mma / Columns

411 Fact or Fiction MMA: Should Conor McGregor Fight GSP?

September 27, 2017 | Posted by Lorenzo Vasquez
Conor McGregor Goerges St-Pierre

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 hearty serving of the MMA edition of 411 Fact or Fiction. Thank you, for your votes and comments last week, it is appreciated. I encourage you to vote again this week and to let us have it in the comments section. Last week, Wyatt Beougher and Robert Winfree locked horns over the idea of Daniel Cormier relinquishing his UFC LHW title, Yuskin Okami’s return to the UFC, and Valentina Shevchenko moving down to the flyweight division in addition to other topics. Robert showed no mercy as he immediately blasted Wyatt with devastating overhand rights and thunderous high kicks. Wyatt was never able to get his footing and by the time the dust settled, Wyatt had bit the canvas. Congratulations, Robert, and thank you both for your efforts and contribution.

This week, two hard-hitting Fact or Fiction behemoths take center stage and lock horns over Claudia Gadelha’s future, a potential fight between GSP and Conor McGregor, talk of Ronda Rousey returning, and much more. These two are gearing up to unleash a firestorm. Grab that grub and make yourself comfortable because it’s time for another round of, 411 Fact or Fiction MMA! Such we…

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

5-7-0

VS

BLUE CORNER
Dino “Salad Bar” Zee
Contributor, 411 Wrestling Zone
11-0-1


Because Claudia Gadelha has two losses to the current women’s strawweight champion and now a definite loss to Jessica Andrade, No. 4 in the division as of Friday before her bout with Gadelha, Gadelha’s quickest path to another title shot will be to move up to the flyweight division.

Mark Radulich: FACT That would make sense. Right now for her to get another title shot she’d have to win at least 2 or 3 more fights and then still make a case for why she should have another crack at Joanna Champion. At the rate of which people fight in the UFC these days; that is about 2 fights a year barring injury – she most likely wouldn’t get another shot until 2019 or 2020. If she moves up to Flyweight and wins a match with a high ranked competitor, there’s an argument for hot shotting her into a championship fight.

Dino Zee: FACT Tough here, because one has to assume that if Joanna Champion were to drop the belt, Gadelha would be someone to get a crack at the new champion not soon after, right? At the same time, that all hinges on someone at 115 stopping Joanna, which to this point has been a task too big for all that have tried.

On top of that, Gadelha’s loss to Andrade was clear – this wasn’t a disputed result, and that’s going to hurt her standing in the division for the time being, especially when coupled with her two losses to the reigning champion. A jump to 125 may very well be her quickest path to a title shot. Certainly quicker than staying at 115, it seems.


Jessica Andrade’s performance at UFC Japan indicates she is deserving of a rematch with Joanna Jedrzejczyk and that she may very well be the one to end the champions run.

Mark Radulich: FICTION I’m going with FICTION here because I assume Joanna Jedrzejczyk will retain her title in November against Rose Namajunas and I’m not into giving fighters immediate shots against folks they’ve already lost to. Now if Thug Rose takes the title, I’m all for her first defense being against Andrade but I’m not betting on that. I see Jedrzejczyk retaining. With that said, Andrade needs to face at least one more contender before trying Champion again. I nominate Tecia Torres. ESPN has her 6th in the division and she’s coming off of a win earlier this year against Bec Rawlings. Should Andrade beat her and Joanna does, in fact, retain, then go ahead and match them up.

Dino Zee: FACT It feels like the rematch might be coming a little too fast, but that’s the state of this still young division, and Andrade’s performance against Claudia should probably see her fighting for the belt once Joanna / Rose happens. I say “probably” because should Rose pull off the upset, one would assume that the UFC does all that it can to make the rematch happen.

I’m still not sold on Andrade’s status as “the one to end the champion’s run,” but at 115, she might be the one with the best shot at it, so I’ll stick with Fact. I’m still of the mind that we won’t see Joanna lose until she moves up to 125. If she moves up to 125. Long Live the Queen!


Edmond Tarverdyan, by suggesting Ronda Rousey should fight Cris Cyborg should she return, is rightfully trying to ensure Rousey takes a winnable and financially prosperous fight for his and her future well-being.

Mark Radulich: FACT I don’t know about winnable but it would definitely be financially the best move. I’ve gotten the impression that after two losses Rousey is looking to pursue other interests outside of fighting–and rightfully so. I would like to think that if she wants to write the last chapter of her MMA career, she wants it to be a happy ending. Cyborg vs Rousey is one of those fights fans have been wanting for a long time and while some might argue that the match is past its use by date, others would say that even though time has eroded some of its luster, it is still a fight we want to see. Again, I wouldn’t assume Rousey will roll over Cyborg but stranger things have happened. There’s an argument for win, lose or draw; go out with a bang, a spectacle if you will. Create an attraction and laugh all the way to the bank.

Dino Zee: FICTION Edmond seems to only be looking out for his financial future, because the idea that Cyborg is a “winnable” fight for Ronda is a bit of a stretch, and that’s being as kind as possible. And I’m speaking, for the record, as a die-hard Ronda Rousey fan. That said, I’m not into this fight. At all. I’ve watched Ronda get starched twice now, and I don’t need to see it happen at the hands of the most vicious woman in the UFC, thanks.

Chalk this up to Edmond being Edmond which is, I believe, usually code for “stupid.”


SWITCH!

Lorenz Larkin’s 2-fight skid in Bellator MMA has shown us that he likely wasn’t going to climb the ladder in the UFC any further than he had when he chose to sign with Bellator MMA.

Dino Zee: FICTION To me, it speaks more to the fact that, in certain areas of its roster, Bellator MMA has legitimate fighters, with Douglas Lima and Paul Daley both being good examples. That doesn’t mean that Larkin definitely would have climbed the ladder in the UFC, but I’m not going to discredit the wins of his opponents by playing the “Well, Larkin wasn’t that good!” card. The beating he put on Neil Magny was impressive. That was also – to be fair – his best win at welterweight, with the loss to Albert Tumenov being the other standout result at 170.

Larkin is good enough to stand and trade with anyone, and even get the drop on his opponent. However, his style can be a bit dangerous (as we saw in the Tumenov and Daley fights), and he can also tend to be a little hesitant (as we saw in the Lima fight). I guess I’m saying that I’m not sure how his UFC run would have continued, but I still won’t use the past two fights as proof that he’s not a top 5 guy. Top guys lose, too.

Mark Radulich: FACT Am I alone in thinking Lorenz Larkin sucks and always has? Maybe that’s a tad harsh considering he was 13-0 going into the UFC. On the other hand, since entering the UFC he’s lost about half the fights he’s had. The man is 31 years old presently and he isn’t getting any younger. He made the right move going to Bellator as they are throwing money at fighters with any name recognition at all. Had he stayed in the UFC he would have likely continued to lose more fights than he would have won and summarily would have been cut in the near future.


While Congressman, Markwayne Mullin, claims Conor McGregor has plans to speak in front of the United States Congress in favor of the Ali Act Extension, it is hard to believe those are McGregor’s true intentions because it is hard to see—envision—McGregor speaking against the UFC after the brass allowed him to have his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Dino Zee:FICTION I have zero problem seeing Conor speaking against the UFC, no matter what they allowed him to do. In fact, I’d assume he’d take offense at the idea that he was allowed to do anything, and that he would instead feel like he worked for and earned that fight, and he made it happen, dragging them along the whole way.

But that’s all assumptions. The facts are, I’ve seen Conor speak his mind time and time again, without much fear of offending his bosses. I don’t see that trend changing, so if he wants to speak in favor of the Ali Act Extension, he will. I have way less of a hard time picturing that than I do picturing Conor being polite and biting his tongue.

Mark Radulich: FICTION Conor McGregor is the UFC’s biggest star. I’m pretty sure they would be willing to overlook him speaking against them in Congress if he continues to fight for them and generate millions in revenue. You’ll probably hear Dana White say something untoward about him in a press conference or scrum but outside of that, as I’ve said many times in this forum, money talks. Behind the scenes, the powers that be are only concerned with generating revenue and as long as he’s doing that for them, they probably don’t care what he says to Congress.


Should Georges St-Pierre beat Michael Bisping his next fight should be against Conor McGregor; hence, McGregor should hold off on making any fight decisions until after GSP vs. Bisping.

Dino Zee: FICTION I’m 99% of the belief that GSP retires if he wins, and returns to 170 if he loses. I also don’t see the world where we have the champion at 185 then fight the reigning 155 champion, considering the 155 champion has yet to defend his title. I’m just, really, if I’m being honest here, having trouble digesting the idea that GSP’s next fight, if he beats Bisping, “should be against Conor McGregor.” In fact, I feel like that’s more the fight you try to do if GSP loses, and even then, it’s such a shallow cash grab, that I… wouldn’t be surprised to see that be what happens. Crap.

Maybe if I just put it out in the universe, it’ll happen. GSP loses. Bisping retires and 185 gets back on track. Conor defends his belt. GSP fights Woodley. If everyone makes it out alive, then you do GSP vs. Conor, Champion vs. Champion. I guess.

Mark Radulich:FICTION It has been almost a year come this November since McGregor won the Lightweight belt. Come hell or high water, his next fight needs to be a title defense of said belt. Meanwhile, per MMA Junkie, “…an interim belt will be up for grabs in the division when Tony Ferguson fights Kevin Lee at UFC 216. The winner is expected to stay in line to fight McGregor to unify the titles.” The logical next fight should be McGregor against the winner of Ferguson/Lee. Let’s get an undisputed LW champion and then we can look at GPS vs McGregor. The UFC will still be here in 2018 so there’s still time to make that super-fight next year if need be.


So who won? Was Mark able to hand Dino his first defeat or did Dino continue his march to greatness? 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!

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