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411 Fact or Fiction MMA: Can Cub Swanson Beat Aldo or Holloway?

April 26, 2017 | Posted by Lorenzo Vasquez

Welcome back to another edition of 411 Fact or Fiction MMA! I’m your host, Lorenzo Vasquez III, and it is my pleasure to bring you the lowdown on everything fact and fiction in the biosphere of professional mixed martial arts. By the way, thank you, for your votes and comments last week. It is appreciated and I encourage you to show some love this week. Last week, Evan Zivin challenged the heavy hitting Mark Radulich over topics like Demetrious Johnson grabbing the title of G.O.A.T., Cris Cyborg asking for her release, and Conor McGregor beating Tyron Woodley in addition to other subjects. Mark pressured Evan with heavy hands but Evan was able to bob and weave and land hard counters en route to a 21-to-17 victory. Congratulations, Evan, and thank you both for your efforts and contributions!

This week, we’ll be treated to an epic 411mania fact or fiction battle as Robert Winfree steps up to lock horns with the vile, Jeffrey Harris. Look for this to be a barnburner as they dive into subjects like Cub Swanson’s win or Artem Lobov, Al Iaquinta crying foul, Conor McGregor making $75 million in a fight with Floyd Mayweather, and much more! You know what time it is. Get that grub and strap in because it’s time for another round of, 411 Fact or Fiction MMA! Let’s get this show going…

TALE OF THE TAPE
RED CORNER
Robert “The Last Rider” Winfree
Contributor/Live Coverage Guru/Host, 411 MMA Zone/411 Ground and Pound Radio Show
4-4-0

VS

BLUE CORNER
Jeffrey “The Vile One” Harris
Contributor, Various 411 Zones
2-4-3

Cub Swanson may have won a clear-cut decision against Artem Lobov and called for a title shot but, his performance was far from absolute dominance against an opponent like Lobov, and he hardly assured us he would have a competitive title fight against Jose Aldo or Max Holloway.

Robert Winfree: FICTION Mostly based on the second half of the statement. Cub Swanson is almost always in competitive fights, even when he loses he tends to be in the fight though there are a couple of exceptions. I was disappointed in Swanson’s performance to be sure, but that comes down to elements of nit picking and he did win a decision without controversy. I wouldn’t pick him to beat either Aldo or Holloway, he’s lost to both men decisively, or Frankie Edgar if those two fought again; however, that tends to overlook the fact that Swanson has put together a nice winning streak and has fought extensively for several years. There isn’t a more compelling contender just yet, that position could shift depending on the outcome of Edgar vs. Rodriguez and Aldo vs. Holloway, and while he may not win the belt I think he’s put together a compelling enough case to get a shot at it.

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION Cub Swanson pretty much absolutely dominated Artem Lobov. Lobov only took one round, and Swanson decisively won the rest of the fight and was out-striking Lobov almost the entire time. It was pretty close to being a dominant and one-sided fight after the first round. Swanson has the wins at featherweight, and Conor McGregor is out of the picture. Swanson has more than earned his title shot. He took a very dangerous fight so UFC would have a crowd-pleasing main event in Nashville. The only people he has lost to in his UFC career are champions or former title contenders. Would a fight against Aldo or Holloway be competitive? Well, he was soundly defeated and finished by both guys before. However, the fight with Aldo was years and years ago. Swanson was a middling featherweight fighter at that point. However, since his ascension to the UFC, he’s become one of the best featherweight fighters on the planet. He went on a two-fight losing skid, but then he bounced back with four straight impressive and dominant wins. The man is 10-3 in the UFC. Give him his shot at the gold. Whether the fight will be competitive or not doesn’t really matter. Swanson has earned his shot. Who are you to doubt Cub Swanson?

Diego Sanchez should not be fighting at a high level at this point in his career.

Robert Winfree: FACT There was a time when that meant he shouldn’t be in the UFC anymore, but that time passed a couple of years ago. Sanchez isn’t a relevant fighter, isn’t a contender, and hasn’t been for many years now. Sanchez is also 35 and has been with the UFC for nearly 12 years, that is a ton of miles on his body and the fact that his fighting style leads to him taking so much physical abuse doesn’t help his case. I’m not calling for him to retire tomorrow, but the UFC should be extremely careful who they match him up with and he and his management should have an exit strategy from the sport for within his next four or five fights.

Jeffrey Harris: FACT No matter what kind of rant Diego Sanchez goes on for his Instagram account, his time as a top level fighter is long over. He’s 35, but he has a lot of years and miles on his body. Ultimately, it’s not my decision if he retires or not. However, he’s not a high-level fighter or a relevant contender anymore. You definitely get concerned about all the damage he’s taking now. The fact is, Marcin Held is not a top level fighter. Al Iaquinta was legitimately a top 10 guy before his extended layoff. He had nothing for Iaquinta. Yeah that happens in match-ups sometimes, but look at Sanchez’s recent record. He’s like 3-6 over nine fights. Now, I think the UFC should talk with him and help him out with his post-fighting career and find something for him to do. But yeah, I really don’t want to see Sanchez fighting anymore. It was bad enough seeing him make the move down to featherweight where he definitely didn’t belong.

Al Iaquinta has a right to be upset at UFC management for his lack of a pay boost and the fact he did not receive a performance bonus for his knockout of Diego Sanchez.

Robert Winfree: FICTION Again based more on the second half of the statement. Yeah he knocked Diego Sanchez out cold and it was impressive, but Brandon Moreno hit a sick rear naked choke on Dustin Ortiz and became the first man to finish Ortiz and then there was Mike Perry’s standing elbow KO of Jake Ellenberger that will be replayed and likely score highly in Knockout of the Year discussions. As for his pay issues, yeah I can buy that being a legitimate gripe but he’s been smart enough to supplement his income with a somewhat more stable source. The performance thing was just bad luck, on pretty much any other card he’d have taken a bonus.

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION No, he doesn’t. Al Iaquinta is an immature man-child who lacks any type of understanding outside of his juvenile emotions. First of all, the Performance of the Night bonuses went to Mike Perry for his knockout over Jake Ellenberger, and Brandon Moreno for his submission win over Dustin Ortiz. Both those guys more than earned those performance bonuses. Not everyone can get one. Iaquinta decided to play hookey from the UFC Fighter Summit. He said he wasn’t feeling well and needed time off. So, instead, he took that time to go to the beach and posted pictures of himself at the beach on Instagram. The UFC brass were not happy about that. And he acts like he did nothing wrong there and that management isn’t justified that they are upset that he didn’t go. Guess what everyone? Even if you are an independent contractor, you still have obligations to do things for your work that you don’t want to do. Are you tired? Not feeling well? Want to stay home? That’s life kiddos. Everyone has those obligations in life. Being a UFC fighter, if they want you to go to these events, you should go to these vents. You decided not to and asked to stay home to heal up and get better. They let you do that, and instead, you decided to play around at the beach. You know, maybe don’t take pictures of yourself at the beach and post them on Instagram like a teenaged moron if you should be at the Fighter Summit instead. Iaquinta has no one to blame for his current predicament for himself. He has the personality of a spoiled teenager.

SWITCH!

The case can be made that Robert Whittaker deserves the next middleweight title shot over Yoel Romero.

Jeffrey Harris: FACT Robert Whittaker did what Yoel Romero could never do to Jacare. Not to mention, Whittaker has never failed a drug test either. Whittaker has looked like an absolute stud since moving up to middleweight. Hell, no one has decisively finished Jacare at all since Gegard Mousasi back in DREAM in 2008. That was almost nine freaking years ago. Even that win was a little bit flukey. Whittaker treated Jacare like he didn’t belong in the same Octagon as him. Give Robert Whittaker the title shot. Forget about Georges St-Pierre.

Robert Winfree: FACT Sure you can, I’ve also argued that Romeo and Juliet is actually a comedy. Not to diminish Whittaker’s case at all, the man hasn’t lost at middleweight and just wrecked a man long thought the class of the division and has looked incredible lately. The sad fact is that middleweight doesn’t work like a regular division right now if it did Bisping would be fighting Romero around July and Whittaker would get his title shot for the fall/winter based on merit and timing. Of course, the UFC’s desire to keep Bisping as champion while he films crappy movies and attempt to cash in on his celebrity in a market that doesn’t purchase PPV’s is a whole other issue. The thought was that Bisping vs. Henderson would draw on PPV rather than Bisping vs. Jacare or Romero, then it did less than 300k buys. Now management still wants to make money on Bisping so they’re delaying a title fight with a returning GSP until fall or winter and the division stagnates when it’s the deepest it’s been in years.

You’re surprised Dana White estimated Conor McGregor would take home $75 million for a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather as you’d expect the UFC to want a bigger cut of the pie.

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION I’m not really surprised a number like that is getting thrown out there. Floyd Mayweather has received $100 million paydays before, and Conor McGregor has talked about wanting similar deals. I’m not surprised, but it’s still just talk. If this circus act actually goes down, I will want to see what the actual ink says.

Robert Winfree: FICTION I’m not entirely sure there’s anything Dana White could say to the media that would surprise me at this point. White achieved celebrity status by being a loudmouth who shot from the hip in an era when everyone was giving canned, pre-written, and vetted responses to generic questions in the public eye. Moreover, he’s not obliged to abide by that number, this could just be public posturing to get McGregor to think the UFC will be reasonable. He could have been factoring sponsorships or PPV points into McGregor’s payout and still plans on taking 50% of his cut from the promotional side of things.

The Professional Fighters League bringing back the league format to MMA will help elevate the sport and is a refreshing change in today’s MMA climate.

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION Three letters: IFL.

Robert Winfree: FICTION I’m not sure how many of our readers are aware of the defunct International Fight League, but that’s basically where this is going. The IFL started up in January of 2006 and raised around $150 million from investors to get up and running and came with a signed television deal from a national channel. They tried a team format, then a camp format, then a disastrous Grand Prix, and closed up shop in 2008. The PFL has raised something like $25 million dollars since the new owners took over, their television deal with NBCSN is up at the end of the year with no word on that either being renewed or another station being interested, their League format is something that the MMA marketplace has rejected wholesale in the past, and they’re promising a salary to fighters when their cash reserves are relatively low. They say those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it, I expect to be citing this as an example of that within the next 18 months.

So who won? Did Jeffrey pick up a huge upset or was Robert in a class of his own? You’ve got until midnight eastern on Saturday to vote, so make sure you make your voice heard!

And that’s it for today but, as always, we’ll be back next week with another contest! And please, be sure to vote!

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