Each week, ESPN.com MMA writer Brett Okamoto, ESPN Insider senior editor Mike Huang and a guest panelist tackle hot topics that are buzzing in the world of mixed martial arts.
This week, highly ranked Bellator featherweight Daniel Straus joins the panel.
1. How for real is Conor McGregor and will he win a title in 2015?
Daniel Straus: There's no denying he's good, but is he as good as he says he is? I mean, everybody has a good wave and when you do, it's awesome and you roll with it. My question is, when he eventually gets knocked off, how does he bounce back? That's going to show who the real Conor McGregor is. Dominick Cruz is a true champion, if you ask me. He beat everybody, won the belt, defended it, gets knocked out due to injury for almost three years and comes back and demolishes a guy.
Brett Okamoto: I am a big Conor McGregor believer. I love his confidence, because it's not a shtick. It would be different if he didn't really believe the things he said, but he does and I think a lot of that confidence comes from the work he's willing to put into this sport. All that said, I'm a big believer in Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes, too. McGregor is a legitimate top-10 talent in my mind, but if/when he runs up against either one of those two next year, I think he suffers his first UFC loss.
Mike Huang: No. I will acquiesce that McGregor is a charismatic and talented fighter, who owns equally good public speaking skills. He's riding that hype train at full speed, but put him in front of Aldo or Mendes, and I just don't think he beats either one. His performance against Dustin Poirier didn't convince me of anything more than what I thought he was before he came into the fight -- a tough, entertaining SOB who loves to talk. But I think either Aldo or Mendes would defeat him. McGregor would certainly make it interesting, though.
2. Who, if anyone, is to blame for the Tim Kennedy/Yoel Romero fiasco of UFC 178?
Straus: Now, here's the thing about that: You can call me biased because I'm a teammate, but blaming Romero is bulls---. You have to really look at it. While it was all going on, [referee] John McCarthy thought there was too much vaseline on the cut. You see him tell the corner to come back in. That's why Yoel is still sitting there. None of that is Yoel's fault. The commission told him to sit there and have Vaseline taken off his face. What's he supposed to do? Get up and run around? I think there are people to blame, but not Yoel. Any fighter would have done the same thing. The commission enforces these things.
Okamoto: Well, his corner tried to stall. They threw water into the cage and left the stool when time expired. Can you really blame them, though? You do whatever you can for your fighter in that moment. I can't really blame them for fairly standard stalling practices. Romero? Can't blame him, either. He was knocked out on that stool and wasn't getting up until someone made him. If you blame anyone, it has to be the commission-appointed inspector who didn't realize the stool was still in the cage as he escorted Romero's corner out. If the stool is removed when it should have been, this whole fiasco changes quite a bit.
Huang: I would blame Romero's corner men. At the postfight news conference, Dana White put it squarely on the trainers who did not take the initiative to get Romero off the stool and get the stool out of the Octagon, instead leaving it to the athletic commission official and referee John McCarthy to do it. There was an excess of Vaseline on Romero's face, but I can't necessarily blame the cut man because that gash was deep and large. The Vaseline was not much more than what you'd normally see for a cut that size. So I don't necessarily buy the whole idea that Romero didn't move because they were waiting for someone to get the Vaseline off his face. His trainers had left the Octagon, but without the stool? Ricardo Liborio said he didn't see what happened because he was already out of there. But without the stool? Really?
3. Is Alexander Shlemenko still a top-10 middleweight?
Straus: Oh yeah. I feel like, again, this is something you have to wait and see how he bounces back from. Yeah, he lost to Tito Ortiz [in May], but let's face it -- he jumped up a weight class for that fight. Yeah, you can say Tito is old, but he is still good at what he does. I feel like this is really Alexander's first loss and we'll see how he bounces back.
Okamoto: I will be dropping Shlemenko from my top 10 ballot after this loss. He was barely making the cut already at No. 10, heading into this fight. I'm not saying the guy is a bad fighter, but yes, I believe you can find 10 better middleweights in the world than Shlemenko at this moment. He is fun to watch, but if we're being real, he has holes. Fairly visible ones. That we've actually known about for awhile. This loss to Brandon Halsey was a surprise, but shouldn't have been a shock. Maybe he can crack top 10 again, but as of today I think he's on the outside looking in.
Huang: Considering his recent bad losses and the number of fights he's had at the relatively young age of 30, I'd easily consider Shlemenko on the downside of his career. He might be in the top 10 in Bellator, but when you look at the depth at 185 pounds in the UFC -- he's not even sniffing the top 10.
4. What is your dream Bellator/UFC crossover fight at the moment?
Straus: Oh man. I would love to fight Conor [McGregor] after that fight [with teammate Poirier]. So -- that. Then, I would love to see Hector Lombard fight Shlemenko again. I would like to see Eduardo Dantas scrap with the UFC 135ers. We have talent here [in Bellator].
Okamoto: A lot of good answers to choose from on this one. (Thinking). Man, A LOT of good answers to choose from. Give me a Andrey Koreshkov versus Matt Brown at welterweight as the main event. Rounding out the card: Michael Chandler versus Donald Cerrone, Pat Curran versus Frankie Edgar and Eduardo Dantas versus Michael McDonald.
Huang: I admit it. I have a Douglas Lima man-crush. I'd love to see Lima and Rory MacDonald in what would be a great yet brutal striking matchup. Lima reminds me a lot of Edson Barboza. I imagine MacDonald might want to tie up with Lima or test his takedown defense. But Lima says his takedown defense is much improved, although there was no real indication of that in his last fight against Rick Hawn at Bellator 117, as he dominated Hawn so thoroughly standing up. MacDonald's technical skill might offer an antidote to Lima's brutality and raw power. Because MacDonald can attack from multiple disciplines, it would be interesting to see how Lima reacts.
5. Give your early prediction on Tito Ortiz versus Stephan Bonnar at Bellator 131 on Nov. 15.
Straus: You don't want to know my prediction. I don't know, man. I'm not really interested in that fight. Nothing against those guys -- they're making a living -- but it's not really a fight that excites me. If anything, I would say Tito wins. Well, if Tito doesn't knock him out, Bonnar wins a decision. The better fight on that card is Michael Chandler vs. Will Brooks. I know Will. Will is just a beast. The dude is a stud. He doesn't get the credit he deserves. He's something else. He's one of those guys people just don't know about yet.
Okamoto: Yeah, I think Ortiz probably wins. As injury-riddled as they both are, I would say Ortiz still actually moves better than Bonnar does. Bonnar was never a phenomenal athlete, but he always came in shape and worked hard to round out his game. I kind of agree with Straus, the more I think about it. If Ortiz doesn't get a finish or at least one big first round in the books, I could see Bonnar by decision. Oh, and I also agree with Straus that the better fight on the card is Chandler-Brooks.
Huang: Zzzzzz. Huh? Oh right, Tito and Bonnar. Why do we want to see this again? I get the nostalgia, but both of these former greats move like glaciers so it's somewhat painful to ponder. I might be interested just from Bonnar wanting to get closure to his career. But it's not a fight I want to see. I'll take Ortiz by decision in a snoozefest where they're both gassed by the second round. Although I'll lay odds Bonnar's bleeding again considering all the scar tissue he's got on his face.
