411 MMA Fact or Fiction 09.08.10: Edgar/Maynard 2, Karo/UFC, Shaq/Choi & MORE!

Posted by Dustin James on 09.08.2010

Could Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard headline a successful UFC PPV on its own? Should Manny Pacquaio come to MMA? Could Shaquille O'Neal actually beat Hong Man Choi? 411's Todd Vote and Jeffrey Harris debate these topics and more in this week's 411 Fact or Fiction: MMA!

Welcome to the NEW era of 411mania.com's MMA Fact or Fiction! I'm your new host Dustin James and I promise I will bring you something that the last host didn't bring you....and yes, I'm talking about tons of jokes that don't make sense and lots of narcissm. But Fact or Fiction isn't about me, it's about the other wonderful writers here at 411 so let's say we meet this week's participants?

Our first participant is none other than 411 game zone veteran Todd Vote! Vote happens to be a huge MMA fan and recently wrote up a review of the Mafia II game that just came out, which means he's a cool guy in my book. Mafia II is a good game, but it's definitely no Red Dead Redemption. Our second participant is 411 MMA zone veteran "The Vile One" Jeffrey Harris. Harris has conducted numerous interviews with MMA stars here at 411 over the years and even wrote the MMA 3R's for UFC 118 a few days which was a good read.

Now...in the words of "BIG" John McCarthy…LET'S GET IT ON!

1. Joe Warren's knockout over Joe Soto at Bellator 27 was the MMA comeback of the year so far.

Todd Vote: FICTION. - I have a hard time calling anything other than Silva vs. Sonnen comeback of the year for 2010. Even if we are going back a year from now, I think Silva vs. Sonnen and Smith vs. Le 1 are both bigger comebacks than what we seen at Bellator 27. Not to take anything away from Joe Warren, as that was a great comeback. But he got a little roughed up for one round. Sonnen handles Silva for the majority of 5 rounds. Hell I might even go so far as to say Leben's comeback submission over Akiyama is bigger than Warrens.

Jeffrey Harris: FACT. - I was at UFC 117 live. And the Silva comeback was far from the comeback of the year mostly because it was the most heartbreaking and depressing comeback of the year. Joe Warren's comeback was nothing short of amazing. The dude has a granite chin and he has pure, immeasurable heart. He channeled his inner-Nogueira and proved he is the baddest man on the planet. Warren was getting lit up the entire first round but he was not phased and kept his composure and didn't break down. Even though Soto was taking away one of Warren's best weapons with the wrestling and the takedowns. Warren is now a champion barely a year into his MMA career. His growth and progression so far is nothing short of amazing.

SCORE: 0 for 1





2. Dana White is making a huge mistake by letting Karo Parisyan return to the UFC.

Todd Vote: FACT. It is a mistake as far as Dana going back on his word once again. Not so much in the fact that Karo is getting a second chance. If Karo has cleaned himself up he should get a second chance. Many others have before him. Karo is a solid, if unspectacular welterweight, and is a good gatekeeper for the division. If Karo is cleaned up and mentally in it, kudos to him for earning a second chance. If not we will know it and Dana will fire him again.

Jeffrey Harris: FACT. I pretty much agree with Todd here. At the time I pretty much agreed with Parisyan's firing. His last performance in the Octagon was horrible. He clearly had personal issues he needed to work out. I'm still hesitant to truly believe he has. I know Parisyan's has had some run of bad luck in the past, but after his firing, Parisyan just seemed in denial about it publicly and was still making up excuse after excuse. I think people deserve second chances, but Parisyan seems to be on his like fifth chance at this point.

SCORE: 1 for 2

3. You are interested in watching a WEC-focused version of "The Ultimate Fighter".

Todd Vote: FACT. I love me some WEC, and I would love to see a season coached by Torres and Faber before they fight. Let's face it with Faber moving down to 135, Faber vs. Torres is the money PPV fight. So it would only make sense for these two to be the coaches, recent win loss records be damned. Add in the excitement that WEC seems to have on every single card they put on and how could you not want to see this?

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION. It wouldn't work plain and simple. There are clearly broadcasting issues with WEC being on Versus and Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV. ZUFFA had to constantly play down the WEC name with the PPV and the prelims special on Spike. I think their should be some more WEC TV out there. There should be some half-hour Countdown shows for the bigger events and title fights. There should even be something akin to a Primetime type of series. Since Versus is Comcast, see if a deal can be worked out to show it on other Comcast networks like maybe G4.

SCORE: 1 for 3


Video Intermission



4. A Gray Maynard vs. Frankie Edgar title fight is intriguing enough to headline a successful UFC show on it's own.

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION. Probably. And not because Edgar and Maynard on their own or together are not as big of names as Georges St. Pierre, Brock Lesnar, BJ Penn, or Chael Sonnen. The show will be successful though because UFC will get another big fight put together with it most likely to bolster the size and prestige of the card and make it more enticing to viewers. Specifically if the Sonnen/Silva rematch if its made on the same card as Maynard/Edgar will make it a successful card. Or look at Penn/Edgar I being put together with Silva/Maia at UFC 112. UFC knows how to promote PPV cards and make them enticing to viewers. Lots of keyboard warriors said Abu Dhabi/UFC 112 would tank but it didn't.

Todd Vote: FACT If you had said successfully headline a UFC PPV, I would agree, but you said show. So that leaves it open to headline a UFC Fight Night Card, or possibly even a UFC event in the UK that is shown for free on Spike. I'm a fan of Edgar's, but I think Maynard is so boring to watch I'd never bring myself to pay for any card that he is featured as a selling point to. But to main event a Fight Night, definitely.

SCORE: 1 for 4



5. Manny Pacquiao should ignore the advice of his trainers and commit to a jump to MMA if he's not going to fight Floyd Mayweather.

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION. The only thing that should be on Pacquiao's radar right now is fighting Mayweather and doing whatever it takes to make that fight happen. That's where the big money is for Pacquiao right now and that is the fight that boxing fans want to see. Pacquiao would half to take a whole year off and probably even more if he seriously wanted to train MMA and even then I think its a bad idea. Boxing is not a good base for MMA it simply isn't, sorry. Its the hardest sport in combat sports.

Todd Vote: FICTION. See James Toney. I'm sure Pac-Man would fair better than Toney, but that doesn't mean he should try it. He has one money fight left in boxing, and he would be wise to pursue that instead. Quite frankly MMA can't offer him the money that a fight with Mayweather could. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing Manny in a cage, but only if he took it seriously, and trained for a year or so before attempting the jump.

SCORE: 2 for 5

6. Shaquille O'Neal would beat Hong Man Choi if the two faced off in an MMA bout.

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION. I hope the fight never happens and it would be absolutely ridiculous if it did. I dunno, maybe I am overrating Choi here even though I don't think highly of Choi but I still think he'd probably beat Shaq. Eh whatever, this fight should never be sanctioned or made period.

Todd Vote: FACT. I know it is crazy, but against Choi might be the only fight where I would favor Shaq. I mean he'd at least have to fair better than Canseco right?

SCORE: 2 for 6

Well, these two definitely disagreed more than they agreed with each other which either means they are married...or I just asked some damn good questions. I'll just give myself the credit and walk away. But before that, I must say that I have to give the win to Mr. Vote just based on the fact that he said Shaquille O'Neal would beat Hong Man Choi. Just the thought of that fight going down tickles my stomach in weird ways....

Come back next week as two more 411 writers debate the latest in MMA. In the meantime, check myself out at Twitter and don't forget about these guys....



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