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411 Fact or Fiction MMA: Is Miesha Tate Getting Into Ronda Rousey’s Head?

May 11, 2016 | Posted by Lorenzo Vasquez

Welcome back to another edition of 411 Fact or Fiction MMA! As Dan Plunkett would say, I’m still the new guy, and your new Fact or Fiction MMA host, Lorenzo Vasquez III. Last week, former host, Wyatt Beougher, gracefully handed me the torch he carried for four years. Then, he proceeded to bring the hammer down upon me as we tackled subjects like the UFC announcing Jon Jones for UFC 200 knowing he potentially had a broken bone, Conor McGregor stepping back into the UFC 200 card, and Rory MacDonald testing free agency. From the get go, Wyatt held a marginal lead, however, when the dust was settled, I was left picking up the pieces a defeated and broken man while Wyatt took home a nice 19-to-11 victory. This brings Wyatt’s record to 1-0 as we usher in a new era of 411 Fact or Fiction MMA!

This week, Todd Vote and Dan Plunkett will lock horns and discuss Ronda Rousey confronting Paige VanZant for congratulating Holly Holm on her victory over the former champion, Carlos Condit not getting a rematch with Robbie Lawler, Tony Ferguson not rebooking with Khabib Nurmagomevdov, and much more! We should be in for quite the discussion as both, Todd and Dan, look to add “1” to the win column. So, let’s get things rolling…

TALE OF THE TAPE
RED CORNER
“The Toddfather” Todd Vote
Contributor, Various 411 Zones
0-0-0

VS

BLUE CORNER
“Handsome” Dan Plunkett
Contributor, 411 MMA Zone
0-0-0

Miesha Tate revealing that Paige VanZant was confronted by an upset Ronda Rousey, and VanZant confirming Rousey confronted her about congratulating Holly Holm after her victory over the former champion, will fuel the disdain for Rousey, thereby, infuriating Rousey and causing her to lapse mentally should she and Tate meet again for the women’s bantamweight title?

Todd Vote: FICTION While I absolutely agree that this story getting out will only serve to infuriate Rousey, I don’t see it causing her to lapse mentally should these two eventually meet again. So, I had to stop short of going fact on this one. Rousey is obviously not as strong mentally as some had initially presumed, but her being a bit of a bully is nothing new to most, I don’t think.

Dan Plunkett: FICTION Ronda Rousey is not the most even-tempered person or fighter out there; her emotions often bleed through her. However, her pre-fight emotions have never been the cause of an in-fight breakdown. She was fueled by emotion in both of her earlier fights with Miesha Tate, and it didn’t hinder her performance. She also fought angry against Bethe Correia and won in 34 seconds. Rousey also entered the Holm fight following an emotion-charged weigh-in, but it wasn’t a mental lapse that cause her to go down in that fight. Rather, she was at a technical disadvantage and it cost her the fight. One may say that her emotion and a resulting mental lapse caused the ultra-aggressiveness that played right into Holm’s counterstriking, but Rousey has always fought with ultra-aggression. If Ronda loses to Miesha Tate should they meet again, it won’t be due to a mental lapse.

Having victories over the likes of Alistair Overeem, Andrei Arlovski, and Fabricio Werdum and sporting a 23-5 record, it is a safe bet Bellator’s recent acquisition, Sergei Kharitonov, would have been, at least, a top five heavyweight in the UFC?

Todd Vote: FACT Of course the sooner we say that, we would see him enter the UFC and just not perform at all. Look at Overeem? Everybody was sure he was the next big thing, yet he stumbled quite a bit once he stepped into the octagon. Just going off of previous records, and everything on paper, though? Yeah, Sergei would, seemingly, be a top 5 heavyweight.

Dan Plunkett: FICTION This is tough because with the right path, Kharitonov could have made it into the UFC heavyweight division’s top five. After all, it’s not a particularly strong division. However, Kharitonov has a number of faults that would most likely prevent him from gliding into the top five. His ground game is not strong; it’s tough to imagine him surviving against a modern day Fabricio Werdum or Cain Velasquez. He’s got a great right hand and undeniable power, but his striking isn’t without holes. Again, the heavyweight division is such that Kharitonov could certainly have been top five in the UFC, but he wouldn’t have been a safe bet either.

Considering Conor McGregor began boxing at the age of twelve, and the success he’s had inside the octagon with his striking, it isn’t unreasonable to believe he could hang with the elite names in the boxing community, Floyd Mayweather, Amir Khan, etc.?

Todd Vote: FICTION I have to answer fiction here. Outside of a couple of junior titles, we only have word of mouth to go by when it comes to gauging Conor’s actual boxing prowess. While I have no doubt Conor would be a game fighter in a matchup with Mayweather or Khan, I don’t see him “hanging with the elite” as you put it. Conor boxed exclusively until he was sixteen, then his attention was split among other martial arts. To guys like Mayweather, boxing is life from dusk until dawn. One last thing that tends to lead me down the fiction road with this one is this: Conor has said he is in it for the money. If that is the case why did he choose MMA instead of boxing? Boxing is a much more lucrative sport right now. That is just me playing devil’s advocate of course, but if money is your primary driving force, why not choose the contact sport that will directly translate to the most money?

Dan Plunkett: FICTION Floyd Mayweather and Amir Khan are professional boxers that train only with boxing in mind, spar with professional boxers, and have fought professional boxers for years and years. Conor McGregor is a mixed martial artist whose attention is divided between different styles and requirements of different opponents. In recent years, he’s put a noticeably lesser emphasis on head movement and setting up strikes because he could easily withstand the power of featherweights and had no issues putting them down with his left hand. The idea that he could adapt to a boxing match with an elite professional boxer is silly. Could Georges St-Pierre hang with Jordan Burroughs in a freestyle match? Certainly not. These are different sports. Although there is a certain level of crossover, but vastly different demands.

SWITCH!

With Robbie Lawler’s next opponent looking more like Tyron Woodley and not Carlos Condit, we can begin to say our goodbyes to Condit knowing he proclaimed after UFC 195 he would retire if he did not get a rematch with Robbie Lawler for the welterweight strap?

Dan Plunkett: FICTION Who has retired in the sport and meant it? The list is small. If Carlos Condit was adamant about retiring when it was clear he wasn’t going to receive the next title shot, he would have announced his retirement by now. Retirements don’t often come with such strict contingencies; if he’s open to fighting one fighter, there is likely another match out there that he would accept. Plus, at worst, he’s one win away from another championship shot. Unless Condit is a glaring exception to the rule, he’ll be back sooner or later.

Todd Vote: FICTION Going fiction here strictly for selfish reasons. Condit is one of my top 5 favorite fighters of all time. I don’t recall ever seeing him in a boring fight. Add in the fact that his UFC title shortcomings have been due to decisions, in which, some say he won, and it would be a shame to see him hang it up. There are a lot of exciting fights left for him.

(Author’s note: This question was sent out to both competitors before news broke of Carlos Condit training for a potential rematch with Nick Diaz.)

Holly Holm fighting Valentina Shevchenko at UFC on FOX 20 is the prefect way to keep Holm’s face fresh in hopes of a Rosuey showdown; while, giving her a tough but manageable foe?

Dan Plunkett: FICTION I’m looking forward to the fight, but I have to say fiction here because there are many safer matchups out there that would have been just as serviceable to the end goal. Shevchenko is a dangerous striker that won’t be an easy out for Holm and it’s going to be difficult for Holm to look good against her. Holm could have fought someone with a bigger name that didn’t present such a strong matchup, such as a Sara McMann, Liz Carmouche, or Bethe Correia. Shevchenko is a decorated kickboxer with no name that could potentially win. Holm’s loss to Miesha Tate created a lot of opportunity; it created very lucrative rematches between any competition of Rousey, Holm, and Tate. A loss to Shevchenko would be crushing and cost the UFC millions of dollars. There were better avenues to explore than this matchup.

Todd Vote: FACT Absolutely agree with this statement. A second loss would not be good for Holly. So a tough but manageable foe is a good idea. I don’t know much about Shevchenko, so I can’t speak to how dangerous she actually is. She is coming off a loss to #1 contender Amanda Nunes, so I think this fight makes sense.

The UFC should opt to rebook Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomevdov, instead of booking Ferguson with Michael Chiesa?

Dan Plunkett: FICTION Khabib Nurmagomedov has had his warm up fight, he’s 23-0, he holds a dominant recent win over the world champion, and he fights bears. He deserves a championship match rather than a fight with Ferguson, as compelling as it would be. Ferguson and Chiesa are booked for July 13, a date it would have been impossible for Nurmagomedov to make with Ramadan ending only shortly before then. After Dos Anjos vs. Alvares in July, there isn’t a more deserving contender than Khabib.

Todd Vote: FICTION I’m guessing Khabib is headed towards the winner of Dos Anjos vs. Alvarez. So it makes sense to book Ferguson in, as you said about Holly’s fight, a tough, but manageable situation. Chiesa is as dangerous as anyone on the ground, but it is a winnable fight for either guy.

So who won? Did “The Toddfather” hand “Handsome” Dan Plunkett his first loss under the new regime, or did Mr. Plunkett earn the 1-0 record? 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! Be sure to leave your comments below. And please, be sure to vote!

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411 Fact or Fiction (MMA), Conor McGregor, Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, Sergei Kharitonov, Lorenzo Vasquez

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