411 MMA Fact or Fiction 11.19.08: UFC 91 Show of the Year, Couture/Liddell 4, Affliction Needing CBS, Lesnar's Chances Against Nog/Mir and MORE!

Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 11.19.2008

Was UFC 91 the best MMA show all year? Will Brock Lesnar defeat Nogueira or Mir? Does anyone want to see Liddell vs. Couture 4? 411Mania's Dustin James and Dan Plunkett debate these topics and more in the new regime of MMA Fact or Fiction.

Welcome back to Cardio Fr…..wait, it's not Thursday? Nope, according to the calendar it's Wednesday and please don't refresh or exit the page because neither will bring back Bren Oliver. Like Randy Couture to Brock Lesnar, Bren has passed the torch to me and his face is in a lot better condition than the former UFC Heavyweight Champion. Enough of the introduction of myself though because we know that I'm not one to have an ego or ramble on for 5,000 words. Lets move on to why you clicked this link.

Stepping up to the plate in the new regime of Fact or Fiction, we have Dustin James who is The Ultimate Writer but is smart enough to not eat the food of other people. He'll be taking on Dan Plunkett, writer of the Greatest MMA Column and if that's the title then it must be true.

In the words of the returning John McCarthy…LET'S GET IT ON!

1. UFC 91 was the best MMA show of the year?

Dustin James: FACT. What can I say? I really enjoyed UFC 91 despite my boy Randy Couture losing. Every single main card fight was exciting, and it's always a big bonus when they can show every preliminary fight on the PPV as well. The card has some awesome submissions (Dustin Hazelett FTW!), some sweet KO's (Lesnar and Stephens~!) plus a moment that will be forever be engraved in our minds (Lesnar defeating Couture). UFC 91 had it all in my opinion. It may not have had a "Fight of the Year" candidate on it, but from top to bottom was a fun solid card.

Dan Plunkett: FACT. You had a big knockout, a sick submission, only one fight went the distance and it was the one that won fight of the night. No fight on the entire card was bad, and the whole card aired on PPV. Add in a new champion and Randy Couture's return even though in a losing effort, this show truly lived up to its billing.

SCORE: 1 for 1. All fights shown, a great KO, great submissions, Dustin Hazelett's beard, an epic main event, and 50 Cent. What else could an MMA fan ask for?

2. Of all the impressive performances at UFC 91, Kenny Florian turned in the most impressive?

Dustin James: FICTION. I'm not taking anything away from Florian's victory over Stevenson at all. For Florian to dominate "Joe Daddy" like he did had me in complete awe. Most night's Florian's victory would by far be the most impressive on the card....however Lesnar's KO victory over Couture was the most impressive in my mind. Watching Lesnar drop Couture and then pound on him with those hammer fists flying at 60 MPH was scary. My jaw was dropped and I was in amazement. When that happens, that HAS to be the most impressive victory on the card. But in all seriousness, can we PLEASE hurry up with BJ Penn vs. Florian?

Dan Plunkett: FACT. Many fighters on this card had impressive performances inclding Lesnar, Hazelett, and Maia, but none more impressive than Kenny Florian. Joe Stevenson is no joke on the ground, and when the fight went there Florian dominated him and mounted him easily. Soon after he sunk in the rear naked choke and it was all over. His performance was so impressive that a fight between him and BJ Penn interests me now.

SCORE: 1 for 2. Kenny Florian not throwing an elbow was the most impressive thing about Florian's impressive performance.

3. A partnership with Showtime/CBS would be the saving grace for Affliction?

Dustin James: FACT. Right now I'm under the assumption that Affliction is basically a "dead man walking". When they couldn't sell tickets for "Day of Reckoning" back in October and were forced to delay the event so they could include Fedor Emelianenko and make the show somewhat of a draw...that was not a good sign at all. Affliction should basically change it's name to "Fedor", because without the big guy it doesn't seem that people are all that interested in what they are offering up. However, a deal with Showtime/CBS could change that. If Affliction could showcase some of it's lesser known fighters on either cable TV or network TV that would do nothing but help the company in the long run. They really need the exposure and a TV deal would help tremendously.

Dan Plunkett: FICTION. If it wasn't the saving grace for EliteXC why would it be for Affliction? Affliction needs to make money and they're not going to do much of that on free TV. They need the revenue that comes from PPV to stay alive. What Affliction needs to do is lower their fighter's salaries and properly market their PPV's.

SCORE: 1 for 3. I mean if Fedor did save Affliction, can CBS really make that much of a difference?

SWEEP!!!!

4. Dana White and Zuffa should give women's fighting a chance, if not in UFC then in WEC?

Dan Plunkett: FACT. There are few fighters in MMA that are more popular and marketable than Gina Carano. While the women's division is weak right now, it's not going to get any stronger by just ignoring it. If the WEC had a women's division headlined by Gina Carono and "Cyborg" Santos, the popularity of the division would explode and more women would start doing MMA, which would in turn strengthen the division in a few years.

Dustin James: FACT. If for no other reason than we would FINALLY get to see Gina Carano vs. Cris "Cyborg" Santos. Women's MMA has it's list of haters and a lot of them reside in the UFC. Dana White is not a huge fan of women fighting and former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes has come out publicly and stated that he hates watching women fight. If Zuffa is not interested in running a women's division, than just put the Santos/Carano fight on a WEC PPV next year and watch the money roll in. If they decide not to book this fight then it's pretty apparent that Zuffa hates $$$.

SCORE: 2 for 4. I'd pay for a WEC PPV if it meant Gina Carano in HD.

5. If Randy Couture has one more fight left in him, it should be against Chuck Liddell?

Dan Plunkett: FICTION. While it's a fight that I am not opposed to seeing, I'm not in love with the idea of Couture/Liddell IV at this point in their careers. If this is the next fight for them, it would probably be a loser retires fight, which isn't something I want to see either man do. I would rather see Randy fight either Anderson Silva or Machida. Couture/Silva would be a huge fight and Randy has the perfect stlye to beat Silva. If Machida fought Couture and won that would give him some recognition so he could finally get his title shot, if Couture wins the UFC doesn't have to give Machida a title shot and they could give it to Randy. Even though Couture and Forrest train together, both of them have no problem fighting friends, but it is still kind of a stretch.

Dustin James: FICTION. I have no interest in seeing Couture get knocked out by Liddell again. If Randy Couture has one fight left in him, it HAS to be against Fedor. What? Just because Randy gets laid out by Brock that means people don't want to see him vs. Fedor anymore? I don't buy that. I said MONTHS AGO that I thought Randy would get beat down by Fedor....yet I still wanted to see the fight because it IS a "super fight". If the UFC is under the impression that Couture only wants to fight once more before he officially calls it a career....then book him against an up-and-coming heavyweight. Someone such as Cain Velasquez or Shane Carwin. A win over Couture for either one of those guys would be HUGE and would immediately catapult them into UFC Heavyweight Title contention. But Liddell vs. Couture 4? BLECH.

SCORE: 3 for 5. Randy vs. Fedor is never happening. Everyone needs to come to grips with that.

6. Based on his MMA career and taking into consideration the training time between now and the fight, Brock Lesnar will defeat Frank Mir or Antonio Nogueira?

Dan Plunkett: FICTION. How much can you really learn in a year? While Brock Lesnar has certainly improved since he fought Frank Mir, both Minotauro and Mir are light years ahead of Lesnar on the ground. Brock would need to finish them fast, because either one would eventually catch him in a submission.

Dustin James: FICTION. I actually think if Brock was to rematch Mir he could beat him, but Nogueira is a different story. Nog can take a shit load of punishment and can even deal out his own. I said months ago that when the smoke from the UFC Heavyweight Title picture is cleared, Big Nog would be the one holding the title high. I just can't see it going any other way.

SCORE: 4 for 6. After seeing them in penalty kicks, I don't think God blessed Mir and Nogueira like he blessed Brock Lesnar. God bless you….God, for blessing Brock Lesnar.

They started slow but ended on a roll, agreeing more often than not.

Come back next week as two more MMA writers discuss whatever enters my mind when I scramble to come up with questions. That's if I'm not fired.