mma / Columns

411 Fact or Fiction MMA: Do We Need Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier III?

January 3, 2019 | Posted by Lorenzo Vasquez
UFC 214 - Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier

Welcome back to another edition of 411 Fact or Fiction MMA! I’m your host, Lorenzo Vasquez III, and after fighting illness and other nonsense, I’m excited to bring you a long, overdue look into the facts and fictions of the MMA biosphere. There’s no better way to start a new year. Leave your comments below and be sure to vote–it is always appreciated.

To kick things off, we have the vile, relentless Jeffrey Harris challenging the man no one seems to be able to put away, Dino Zee. They will lock horns over who’s the new contender in the UFC featherweight division, Jon Jones wanting another showdown with Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes getting the biggest win of her career, and much more! Strap in and grab some grub because it’s time for another round of, 411 Fact or Fiction MMA!

TALE OF THE TAPE
RED CORNER
Dino “Salad Bar” Zee
Contributor, 411 Wrestling Zone

VS

BLUE CORNER
Jeffrey “The Vile One” Harris
Contributor, Various 411 Zones

If turinabol was detected on several of Jon Jones’ test dating back to August, regardless of how big or small or how old, he should have not fought at UFC 232.

Dino Zee: FACT I admittedly am not a high-level scientist, but that sounds fair. I am still a Jones fan, which probably makes me a garbage human on some level, but I still think the whole thing with UFC 232 was incredibly odd, and would not have happened for many other fighters. Jones should not have fought at UFC 232.

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION What’s done is done. The bullet has left the barrel, as they say. It’s hard for me to believe Jon Jones is clean or not on something. At the same time, I do not take any fighter or athlete at their word that they are clean or never “cheat.” Pretty much everyone who has failed a drug test has had an excuse or lied about being a clean athlete in the past. Also, while I believe PEDs do offer specific advantages in terms of strength, power and recovery, I do not think they are able to bridge that gap with technique and strategy that Jon Jones was able to display last Saturday night. Not to mention, other fighters who have used steroids or tested positive did not become “better” fighters as a result. Case in point, Stephan Bonnar. Not to mention, all the commentators and pundits who were screaming bloody murder over Jon Jones and USADA the last week were ready to kiss his rear and lick his gloves after the fight at the post-fight press conference.

There is absolutely no need for an immediate rematch between Amanda Nunes and Cris Cyborg.

Dino Zee: FACT No need whatsoever, but I think it’d be more than fair to allow one for the woman who dominated the division for most of the decade. I don’t care that the first fight was a blowout, either. But no, despite the paltry atate of the division, there is still no need for this fight. Maybe we do Nuñes/Holm or something else instead. I still think Cyborg should get a rematch immediately if she wants it.

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION To say there is absolutely no need is a misnomer. Many argued that Jose Aldo was deserving of an immediate rematch against Conor McGregor despite Aldo getting knocked out in just 13 seconds. That was because Aldo had been UFC featherweight champion since the division started in 2011 and had defended the belt seven times. He was an incredibly dominant champion. The UFC has given immediate rematches for less. TJ Dillashaw’s win over Cody Garbrandt for the bantamweight title didn’t necessarily spark a need for an immediate rematch, but the UFC still booked one for both fighters. Garbrandt had never even defended the title once.

When you consider the fact that Cyborg hasn’t lost in MMA in 13 years, had never lost in the UFC and was one of the most dominant fighters in the history of women’s history, she is very arguably deserving of an immediate rematch. Heck, even the UFC was ready to give Ronda Rousey an immediate rematch against Holly Holm, despite Holm shellacking Rousey in under two rounds. But the fight couldn’t happen due to Rousey’s injured jaw, and Holm wanted to fight again quicker. So, considering UFC has booked immediate rematches in lesser circumstances, and fans and pundits have called for them in others, to say there is no need for one is a misnomer.

As such, we really do not need to see a third fight between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier; despite the Jones’ controversy with the failed drug test, he is clearly a level above Cormier in terms of fighting level.

Dino Zee: FACT Outside of getting some Final Word victory, it’d still be 2-1 Jones with a Cormier win. Much like the prior question, despite their being no need, I won’t be mad if Jones/Cormier 3 is booked. I enjoyed the first two fights, the bad blood makes every interaction fun, and it’s two of the very best going at it. But nothing for Jones to gain, and Cormier still loses overall even with a win. Just beat up Brock for money instead.

Jeffrey Harris: FACT This fight should never happen again. It’s probably not going to go all that differently. Daniel Cormier does not need the aggravation toward the end of his career or run. Plus, something else chaotic will just happen involving Jon Jones to put a dark cloud over it. Something always happens when these two fight. The MMA world has already been through it multiple times. It does not need to happen again. It’s already clear Cormier cannot beat Jones.

SWITCH!

Amanda Nunes’ win over Cris Cyborg is the final impetus that will have the UFC dissolve its women’s featherweight division.

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION Even though featherweight isn’t a real division, I think it has better chances of survival at the moment than UFC flyweight. For one thing, you still have Cyborg and Megan Anderson under contract. They are featherweight fighters. Cat Zingano, who is a former title contender, fought last Saturday at featherweight. Holly Holm can fight at featherweight. Holly Holm fought and beat Megan Anderson at featherweight. She’s set to fight at bantamweight for her next fight against Aspen Ladd. So, Holm could easily fight Nunes at featherweight if that’s what the UFC wanted. Plus, there’s also a possibility of Cyborg getting a rematch for her next fight. Maybe it won’t be on pay-per-view, but they could do it on ESPN or ESPN+. That’s just one idea. Granted, this was only a title that was ever really made to accommodate and appease Cyborg.

Dino Zee: FICTION I have to be honest, this one took me back a bit. Outside of “obvious” fan observations (mine included), I haven’t seen anything about them cutting Women’s Featherweight. Didn’t want to do an internet crash course on the subject. However, I still say Fiction, on the grounds that maybe Nuñes ends up wanting to stay at 145 long term, and as the latest “greatest ever” in UFC lore, she should be afforded that opportunity.

Because of the difference in fighting style, Al Iaquinta would likely have a more difficult time fighting Conor Mcgregor than he did Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION I’m not sure if he beats Conor McGregor, but I can see Al Iaquinta having a lot of success against him. People don’t get it, but Conor McGregor is very beatable. His takedown defense is terrible, and he tends to fight with his chin a lot. That would be very dangerous against the likes of Al Iaquinta.

Dino Zee: FACT “Styles make blah blah…” It’s true, though. Al did well with Khabib because his wrestling is up to snuff. With Conor, while the chance of Al mauling McGregor is there, we have to deal with the fact that Al tends to eat some punches to get what he wants. Early on against Conor, that could be death. As I said, this fight goes either way if it were to happen, but I still agree that Conor is the “more difficult” out for Iaquinta.

We could do it the safe way and build up Alexander Volkanovski until there’s no other choice than the champion, but it may worth it to have Volkanovski fight, Max Holloway, next.

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION For one thing, we don’t know what’s going to happen with Max Holloway yet. Dana White and UFC might campaign for him to move up. If Holloway moves up, he might not agree to do that without getting an automatic title shot. But there, we have this whole roadblock with McGregor, Nurmagomedov, and the NSAC going on at the moment. Also, there’s still Frankie Edgar and Renato Moicano ahead of Alexander Volkanovski. Volkanovski definitely picked up an impressive win at UFC 232. He’s definitely in that conversation, but Frankie Edgar arguably still has a good claim to a title shot against Max Holloway next. That is if Max Holloway can still safely make 145 pounds, but he appeared to do so against Brian Ortega without issue. The other issue is Renato Moicano, who is set to fight Jose Aldo soon. However, Jose Aldo has already fought and been finished by Holloway on two separate occasions. I think Volkanvoski will have to fight one more time to earn that shot.

Dino Zee: FACT Volkanovski Train is leaving the station. Get on board or get beaten up. Get this man in there with Max ASAP. Sorry – bit of the wrestling fan in me. But yeah, I like the guy a lot, and I’d like to see how Max makes him look completely ordinary in the eventual fight.

So who won? You’ve got until midnight eastern on Tuesday 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!

Do you have comments and questions you’d like to get to me, or statements you’d like to see on 411 Fact or Fiction MMA, shoot me an email at:
[email protected]

Also, follow 411’s various and sundry zones on Twitter for your daily 411 fix!

411 Wrestling Zone Twitter
411 Movies/TV Zone Twitter
411 Music Zone Twitter
411 Games Zone Twitter
411 MMA Zone Twitter

More Trending Stories

article topics :

411 Fact or Fiction (MMA), Amanda Nunes, Cris Cyborg, Daniel Cormier, Jon Jones, Lorenzo Vasquez

More Stories

loading