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411 Fact or Fiction MMA: Did McGregor Silence His Doubters?
Welcome back to another edition of 411 Fact or Fiction MMA, and I’m your host, Wyatt Beougher! Last week, Jon Solomon tried to do the impossible and defeat Dino Zee in the regular season. They debated Bendo’s future, whether Dan Cormier had any say in where he fights Jon Jones, and more, and when the voting closed, it proved to be too tall a task for Jonathan, as Dino captured 2/3rds of the vote en route to an 18-7 win. This week, Robert Winfree jumps into action after a whirlwind three straight days of UFC coverage this past weekend (which is why I slotted him in this week – not because I wanted to overwork him, but because I know he saw all of the relevant shows) to take on Alex Rella. They’ll be discussing Conor McGregor’s win over Jose Aldo, championship rematches, and more, so let’s get to the action!
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
2-3-0
VS
BLUE CORNER
Alex “Little Mac” Rella
Contributor, 411 MMA Zone
1-3-1
https://youtu.be/N1IFt0gglsQ
1.) Unlike Ronda Rousey’s fast finishes during her championship reign, Conor McGregor’s knockout win over Jose Aldo at UFC 194 will do little to silence his detractors.
RobertWinfree: FACT, at least if the initial reaction is to be believed. I heard a few people loudly complaining that the fight was fixed, I’m sure the phrase “flash KO” will start appearing in the near future as well. The reality is that no one thought McGregor could finish Aldo with one punch, and when that happened, we have struggled to find an explanation that fits with what we thought we knew instead of accepting that we didn’t know all that much. The knocks on McGregor also still remain in place – he’s only fought one wrestler and was taken down with too much difficulty, his striking defense currently consists of daring his opponents to hit hard enough for him to care, and if you’re put off by his personality then you’re still going to be put off by his personality. McGregor did something truly spectacular last Saturday, but people who dislike him are still going to dislike him.
Alex Rella: FACT I’ll tackle this one in two parts. First, there is definitely a different feeling between her fast finishes and this one by McGregor. Maybe because she was the champ or maybe because they were mostly brutal finishes, I never had any desire to see Rousey have a rematch with any of the former number one contenders. With this one, I really want to see a rematch between McGregor and Aldo. Aldo was one of the most dominant champions of all time, I want to see if McGregor can beat him again and I think most fans agree. Not that I think the win was a fluke or anything.
Second, yes McGregor will still have detractors after this. While I completely disagree, there are those that still question the skill of McGregor. I saw posts all over social media by fans and “writers” before the fight claiming how he hadn’t defeated any top fighters and now those same people are calling the knockout a lucky punch. I don’t see the difference between a 13 second KO and one that comes in the middle of the first round, but there will always be people that just hate certain fighters and I guess McGregor opens himself up to a lot of that.
2.) Chris Weidman should have to win another fight against a middleweight contender before getting a rematch with new middleweight champion Luke Rockhold.
Robert Winfree: FACT The UFC has booked a few immediate rematches that the fans have rebelled a little against, and while Weidman lost that fight based on a singular instance of bad decision making, the UFC does have a contender lined up in Yoel Romero and despite the somewhat dubious nature of his win, he is still in position for a title shot. If Romero gets injured or fails a drug test, then Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza could easily step into the title picture and we can still avoid an immediate rematch. Chris Weidman is good enough to win a rebound fight before getting another title shot, and I think we’re all just a little tired of immediate rematches from fights that ended in decisive finishes.
Alex Rella FACT I’m generally not a fan of instant rematches. I think in most cases rematches should have some time to breathe and get built back up to build more excitement and intrigue. Especially since Weidman was dominated by Rockhold. Rockhold could defend his title for the first time against Yoel Romero or get the Vitor Belfort rematch he’s been begging for. Then the UFC could throw Weidman up against someone like Robert Whittaker or Tim Kennedy. Then people will be more excited to see if Rockhold can do it again in a rematch. Worst case scenario is if Rockhold or Weidman lose their next fight and we don’t get the rematch. Even then, it isn’t that big of a loss as I don’t see it as the biggest money draw and then you’ll get a fresh new match-up to build instead. But yes, I hope this rematch gets some time breathe and then let the rivalry build on its own.
3.) Conversely, with Frankie Edgar beating Chad Mendes, it is likely that Jose Aldo will get an immediate rematch, rather than doing McGregor/Edgar and a third Aldo/Mendes fight.
Robert Winfree: FICTION The UFC only plays the immediate rematch card when a fighter was finished if they didn’t get the outcome they wanted or they like the fighter that lost; neither of those apply here. The UFC, on a promotional level, wants Conor McGregor as champion because he draws money, so they got the result they wanted. The UFC and Jose Aldo have had a very contentious relationship over the last few years, so they’re not going to go out of their way to give him an immediate rematch after getting starched in 13 seconds, so the second condition is not in play. Heck, we’re not entirely sure McGregor is even going to defend the belt because the weight cut is so drastic for him but unless he vacates the belt and the UFC does an Edgar vs. Aldo rematch for the vacant title Aldo isn’t getting an immediate shot at the featherweight title.
Alex Rella: FICTON I don’t get the feeling that Aldo will get an immediate rematch with McGregor. Aldo has never been a favorite of Dana White and it’s clear White is happy to have the title off of him. Aldo has had a lot of untimely injuries over the years and he has held up the featherweight title picture at times. That being said, there are a lot of options for the new champ and I don’t think a rematch with Aldo is at the top of the list. Before Saturday, White promised Edgar a title shot and he has definitely earned it with his awesome five-fight winning streak. White said nothing is set in stone, but Edgar has always been one of his favorites and I doubt he’ll be able to pass up the intrigue of him possibly becoming a two division champion.
Then there’s the possibility of McGregor moving up to lightweight to try and become a two division champion at the same time, something that has never happened in the UFC before. McGregor has made his intentions of moving up to lightweight very clear, the UFC might not disagree since it’ll be a huge fight and there is a lack of a clear number one contender at 155 lbs. This is one of those times where an immediate rematch actually makes a lot of sense, I just don’t see it happening this time.
(Side note – I really hope Mendes doesn’t fight Aldo again right away. He’s an amazing fighter, but he needs to build himself backup. A third loss in a row would really hurt his career.)
[Editor’s Note: This statement was sent and responded to before anything had been officially announced. As a matter of fact, at the time of my deadline, the next featherweight title fight has not yet been announced or even mentioned by anyone directly in the know (Dana White, Joe Silva, Lorenzo Fertitta). -W]
SWITCH!
4.) Considering Paige VanZant had an individual Reebok sponsorship deal before anyone else in the women’s strawweight division, her getting completely outclassed by Rose Namajunas was the worst loss for the UFC over the weekend.
Alex Rella: FACT Definitely. The UFC has put a lot of time, money, and energy into promoting VanZant, so her losing was a bit of a blow to the UFC. She had been on a nice roll and they were hoping to build her up as a future champ, but she was no match for Namajunas. VanZant fighting for the title is likely because she’s so young, but just not as soon as the UFC was hoping. So they lost a top contender and Namajunas is still a couple fights away from getting another title shot. So definitely the biggest loss of the weekend for the UFC from a business and planning perspective.
Robert Winfree: FICTION I don’t think the UFC lost at all over the weekend. Paige VanZant may have been utterly dominated but she showed the kind of mental and physical toughness you need to succeed at the highest levels of MMA; a lot of fighters don’t possess the kind of fortitude she showed in continuing to try and fight despite getting smashed by Rose Namajunas. The talk of VanZant as an immediate title threat will die off, but she’ll still have people interested in seeing her develop as a fighter. VanZant is still very young and still improving her game; this loss simply showed the current limitations of her skills but is hardly the end of her career unless she decides to retire.
5.) Dana White publicly complaining about Herb Dean not standing up Ryan Hall and Artem Lobov at The Ultimate Fighter finale when Hall had Lobov’s back but did nothing with it was a deciding factor in Dean standing up Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold during the first round of their fight at UFC 194, when Weidman was in side control and Rockhold was holding a very loose guillotine.
Alex Rella: FICTION Herb Dean is one of the best referees in the sport; I highly doubt he would let Dana White’s complaints affect him. White is not Dean’s boss, he doesn’t pay him, and his complaints don’t factor into which refs are assigned to which fights at all. Dean has been doing this a long time and always carries himself as a consummate professional, I really hope he wouldn’t bend because of one whiny person’s nagging. Also while Dean is generally one of the best referees, he’s also made some awful mistakes over the years. He’s human and occasionally makes some bad calls. Remember the second Renan Barao/Urijah Faber fight? He completely ruined that one. So I think this was just two occasions where he wasn’t at his best, not him compromising to White’s will.
Robert Winfree: FICTION I don’t think Herb Dean or any official should give a whole lot of credence to what Dana White says about them. Dana White is a promoter, his goal is not the advancement of the sport but rather having the most exciting fights possible and getting people to spend time and money on them. Herb Dean stood up Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman because neither man was doing anything. Weidman was technically in side control as he had passed Rockhold’s guard but the position against the fence prevented him from being in full side control (i.e perpendicular to Rockhold’s body) and if he tried to push Rockhold’s hips and upper body into a place where he’d be in full side control Rockhold could easily have used that motion to get to full guard and finish the choke. Rockhold also wasn’t going to try and shrimp or hip escape to full guard because that motion would have opened up Weidman establishing a dominant position as they moved away from the fence. They had reached a positional stalemate, neither man was moving and Weidman had side control only from a technical perspective not from a dominant position perspective, so when neither man moved for a good chunk of time and made it clear they weren’t going to, the referee stood them back up. Dana White’s opinion on fights from the previous night had nothing to do with it, from what I could see.
6.) Elias Cepeda, who currently works for Fox Sports and has a 3-2 amateur record, would make an excellent first opponent for Phil “CM Punk” Brooks.
Alex Rella: FACT Eh, yea I guess so. I don’t know who this is and I didn’t know this was a potential match-up, but sure. It doesn’t really matter who CM Punk fights first. Nobody with a 1-0, 2-1, or 1-1 record is going to be a top draw and they don’t need to be. People are going to be excited to see CM Punk fight no matter who the opponent is. So sure, this guy with a little notoriety would make for a good match-up if he wants it. But some random Brazilian with a 1-0 record is just as good of a first opponent. People will tune in to see Punk fight, regardless of who it is.
Robert Winfree: FACT I guess? Look I care about CM Punk exactly as much as I care about every other 0-0 professional fighter looking to make their debut. When he actually gets in the cage I’ll start caring.
So who won? Did Robert return to action with a win, or did Alex pick up some momentum to close out his year? 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 we’ll be back next week with another contest! As always, if there’s anything you’d like to see featured in a future edition, leave your statement in the comments and I’ll add it in. Let me know what you thought in the comments or on Twitter. And please, be sure to vote!
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