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411 Fact or Fiction: Is Stipe Mocic the Greatest?

January 25, 2018 | 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 another round of Fact or Fiction MMA. Thank you, for your votes and comments last week, it is appreciated. Last week, I stepped up on short notice to challenge Evan Zivin. We locked horns over Conor McGregor’s absence, Uriah Hall missing weight, and Jeremy Stephens’ next foe. Evan showed up ready for war, but I was able to avoid the heavy artillery and steal the victory from right under his feet. Nonetheless, thank you for your effort and contribution, Evan.

This week, I’m stepping up on short notice once again. This time, I’m locking horns with the heavy hitting, Mark Radulich. We will dive into subjects like Francis Ngannou buying into his own hype, Stipe Mocic cementing his status as the best ever, Jon Jones passing a polygraph test, and much more! Grab some grub and strap in because it’s time for another round of, 411 Fact or Fiction MMA!

TALE OF THE TAPE
RED CORNER
Mark “Headshrinker” Radulich
Supreme Overlord,
Radulich in Broadcasting Network
5-9-1

VS

BLUE CORNER
Lorenzo “Corpse Grinder” Vasquez III
Host/Contributor, 411 MMA Zone
13-7-2

Francis Ngannou is a victim of his own hype; if he underestimated Stipe Mocic as he says, he clearly bought into his hype.

Mark Radulich: FACT No sane person can look at Stipe Miocic and think they are going to walk over him. Other than having a 17-2 record and being the division champion he has this to his credit, “Cleveland Golden Gloves boxing champion (reaching quarter-final in the nationals), and NCAA Division I wrestler at Cleveland State.” Stipe Miocic isn’t a monster or a guy with terribly heavy hands but he can knock you out. Much of his power comes from his footwork and boxing acumen, not just his power. He has the right combination of striking and wrestling to take on all-comers in a division that often features guys who are either large and muscular or who have tremendous KO power. You’d have to be insane to think you are going to go in there and bully Miocic around. Ngannou had a punchers chance just as anyone would but to think his power would win over Miocic’s technique is hubris at it’s worst.

Lorenzo Vasquez III: FACT Looking at that first stanza, it became apparent Ngannou was in over his head. He had determined that landing one punch was all he needed. The fact was/is, he went to a decision with another prospect, then he knocked out some heavyweight nobodies, submitted a heavyweight nobody, knocked out a declining veteran with a glass chin, and knocked out a top contender who is known for his glass chin. The dude figured all he needed was his hammer of doom. Those surrounding him hyped it up; as a result, he thought land one and call it night as the new heavyweight champ. I’ve felt for some time that Ngannou was getting too fast of a push. Granted, it is the heavyweight division, notorious for its short list of contenders. Still, I’ve would have liked for Ngannou to get another fight or two before challenging for the belt. Nonetheless, this loss should serve as a great lesson to Ngannou, and he should be back stronger and better.

Stipe Mocic may have the record for most consecutive title defenses in his pocket, be the greatest heavyweight at this moment, but he is not yet the greatest heavyweight of all time.

Mark Radulich: FICTION If not Miocic than who? Fedor? The rap on him has been that his winning streak in Pride may have been questionable and when he faced serious competition in Strikeforce the bloom came off of the rose, which resulted in an embarrassing losing streak. Cain Velasquez is too injury prone. Randy Couture? His record isn’t great by comparison and I’d venture Miocic, by virtue of technique alone is a better all-around fighter than Randy Couture ever was. I’m failing to think of anyone who has a comparable win/loss record, fought the caliber of opponents and has the technique and pedigree of Stipe Miocic. I’ll go out there and pronounce him the greatest heavyweight of all time.

Lorenzo Vasquez III: FICTION It’s arguable. Mocic has one helluva case. With the exception of Cain Velasquez, he’s cleaned the division out. It’s such a shame Velasquez has been injury prone so much. I think Velasquez could have become the greatest ever. For now, Mocic holds that title and if he beats Velasquez, it will be set in stone until the next one comes in line.

Talk of Stipe Mocic vs. Daniel Cormier is nonsense when Cain Velasquez is about ready to make a return.

Mark Radulich: FACT Dan Cormier already said he has no plans to fight at Heavyweight. Regardless of whether or not Velasquez is coming back, it’s still nonsense to consider a fight between Miocic and Cormier for that reason alone. Cormier wants to fight as many times as possible before he turns 40. He’s currently the LHW champ and right now his only serious competition is Jon Jones. The smart move is to clean what’s left at LHW and maybe do one more Jon Jones fight before calling it quits. A move to heavyweight is out of the question.

Lorenzo Vasquez III: FACT Velasquez is the only fighter left for Mocic. That fight is more important for the champ than a fight with Daniel Cormier. In addition, Mocic is a different fighter from the heavyweight fighters Cormier once fought against. At the end of the day, as long as talks are floating around of Velasquez making a return, Mocic vs. Cormier is a no go.

SWITCH!

Francis Ngannou would do himself a favor to find heavyweight wrestling/Jiu-Jitsu training partners and change up his coaching staff as they seemed somewhat incompetent between rounds.

Lorenzo Vasquez III: FACT I’m sure Ngannou and his team drilled some wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu. I think they didn’t focus on it enough. I think the focus was on landing the knockout punch. I was surprised they didn’t ice the big man between rounds, as well. I don’t want to put his coaching staff down, but I think they should have prepared him a little better for Mocic. Maybe they did. Maybe Ngannou threw the game plan out the window. Maybe the pressure got to him. It’s possible. But that is not to say he wouldn’t benefit from a fresh set of eyes and legit heavyweight training partners.

Mark Radulich: FACT I think if Ngannou wants to evolve as a fighter and stay competitive among the elites at heavyweight he should change his coaching staff. I think the current group has gotten him as far as they can. With some new training partners and new coaches, he’ll learn more of the finer points of the trade and probably get a second crack at Miocic sooner than later.

Considering how Douglas Lima has handled himself against a pair of top ten UFC welterweights, it’s time to see him in the UFC before his career begins to subside.

Lorenzo Vasquez III: FICTION Lima has handled himself well against former UFC welterweights. He didn’t beat Rory MacDonald but he sure punished the former UFC title challenger. However, I think it’s best for him to stay in Bellator. I don’t see him climbing the ladder too far in the UFC. He may be able to hold a spot in the top 15 of the UFC welterweight division, but I think the majority of the top 10 would chew Lima up. At Bellator he is significant. I don’t see that transcends over to the UFC.

Mark Radulich: FICTION He just lost to Rory MacDonald and before that his biggest most recent win was over Lorenz Larken…meh. I think if he tested the waters at welterweight in the UFC he’d be sent back to Bellator within 2 – 3 very ugly fights. I just don’t see a lot of success for him in the big time.

Due to the inconsistency of polygraph test, Jon Jones should not be allowed to use his polygraph test results to defend himself against his USADA PED testing failure.

Lorenzo Vasquez III: FACT I am no expert on polygraph test, so my opinion has no weight but here it is anyway. It commonly is known that such test can inconsistent. For this reason, I’m calling this statement a fact. He has to prove his innocence in a manner which can not be questioned like a polygraph test. It’s as simple as that. And, in my opinion, it doesn’t help that Jones has a sketchy past.

Mark Radulich: FICTION I don’t think it’s for any of us to say what’s good evidence and what’s bad evidence. That’s for lawyers involved in this case to argue about and for the judge or committee to ultimately decide. Polygraphs aren’t completely useless or they wouldn’t be used at all. I say let him bring all the evidence he can and let his prosecutors being theirs. Hopefully, justice will prevail and we can move on from this mess.

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!

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411 Fact or Fiction (MMA), Francis Ngannou, Jon Jones, Stipe Miocic, Lorenzo Vasquez

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