I don't think a 2008-9 Cain embarrasses Fedor. I actually think zuffa holds off on having him fight Fedor till much later, as they'd have a full stable of HW's [assuming Fedor came over with the rest of the guys Affliction signed]. But if Fedor faced the Cain at the level of, say the Stojnic, Rothwell or Kongo fights, he beats Cain 8 out of 10 times.
I do not see lesnar as having anything more than a longshot against Fedor, pre-or post-sickness. Even had lesnar begun training right out of college, he'd still have to deal with the innate inability to take a punch.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nbm02ss  What if Barnett didn't piss dirty and subsequently caused the folding of Affliction? |
That's definitely something I've pondered over and over again. Affliction was spread thin, but I think the Barnett fight would have put them in a place where they weren't essentially paycheck-to-paycheck. The world of MMA would be much, much better with legitimate competition for zuffa, in my opinon.
Here are a couple more:
what if the ref made the correct call in the Arona/rampage bout back in the day, when 'page was out in Ricardo's guard and was allowed to recover. Both careers would be incredibly changed: when PRIDE folded, rampage would still have the win over Chuck, but he'd have lost a LOT of momentum, having dropped something like 4 out of 7 via stoppages. Conversely, Arona would have been much more marketable, even after the KO loss to Sokodjou.
There would be enough to generate interest in the UFC to bring him over, and he wouldn't have fallen off the map. With Arona busy, it may have generated more support for Filho, who may not have developed his drug addictions that took him off the table.
What if Lorenzo actually lived up to the hype of the big press-conference nonsense bust in 2008? What if you had his cooler, less-emotional guidance for the company and he exclusively handled renegotiations with Fedor and the Fink, as well as all network negotiations? What if he worked to do
successful co-promotion with Japan?
What if the zuffa's business model included acquiring smaller orgs and actually setting them up for success instead of plundering their rosters? What if they'd set up WEC as a feeder-unit for the fighters under 155lbs, SF as a feeder for WW/MW/LHW and Affliction as a feeder for HWs? Realistically, zuffa could produce the same number of shows a year as it currently does, with the product dramatically increased, and a lot more variety available.
rh