Ben vs. Ben — Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields + WEC 41 Double-Feature

(My God, the animosity between these two. It’s like the entire room could burst into flames at any moment.)

MMA fans have a full dance-card this weekend, with Strikeforce putting on a stacked Showtime event on Saturday night (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT), and the WEC following it up on Sunday night with a show on Versus headlined by featherweight champion Mike Brown’s second meeting with Urijah Faber (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT). Be sure to come back here Saturday night for the Strikeforce liveblog — and get psyched for the whole shebang by reading the latest installment of the longest-running MMA argument on the Internet. Ben vs. Ben starts right now…

Brett Rogers says he wants to stand and bang with Andrei Arlovski on Saturday. That sounds like a horrible idea for “The Grimm,” given that Arlovski is just as big and strong as he is but with much more technical striking. Does Rogers stand a chance with that strategy, or is he an unconscious man walking at this point?

BG: WTF? Is Rogers supposed to take Arlovski down and sub him out with his battle-tested Grimjitsu? I’m not trying to hate on Brett’s ground game, because none of us have actually seen it; he’s a brawler, and thus far he’s only had to face other brawlers. Arlovski, on the other hand, actually has some submission skills in his back pocket. So while we know that Rogers will be fighting an uphill battle on Saturday night, I’d say his odds decrease even further if the fight goes anywhere else besides stand-and-bangville.

Brett’s only shot is to stick to his bread-and-butter and swing those hamhocks. The fact that Arlovski’s hands are far more technical means that the Grimm will probably get picked apart. But Arlovski’s unreliable chin makes him vulnerable to what Rogers brings into the cage. That’s what makes this fight compelling for me: Brett Rogers definitely should not be able to beat Andrei Arlovski — but he just might.

BF: With regard to the submission skills in Arlovski’s back pocket, I hope your finger slipped and you really meant to type ‘submission skill.’ As in, his straight achilles lock. That’s all the dude’s got on the mat and he goes to it like it’s his signature killer move, so let’s not pretend that there any Arlovski-platas in the near future.

That said, you’re right that Rogers’ chances probably don’t get a whole lot better on the ground. But if he stands there and pins all his hopes on one big right against Arlovski’s much crisper striking game he deserves the nap that’s coming to him. If I was in The Grimm’s corner (which would be totally sweet, if for no other reasons than all the sweet open letters I could help him write) I’d tell him to take it to the clinch early and often. If he can bully Arlovski inside and use his slight size/strength advantage he might just negate all that fancy boxing crap that Freddie Roach has been filling Andrei’s head with. Maybe if he throws fifteen knees in the first minute, one gets through and touches the old glass chin. Do I really think that will work? Probably not. But what the hell. He can’t just sit back and wait for the flying knee all night.

Pardon me for just now noticing, but Saturday night’s Strikeforce lineup is really pretty interesting for several different reasons. But here’s a fabricated dilemma for you: say you can only watch one fight live, catch one on the internet the next morning, and cut one completely from the lineup. What do you do?

BF: I’m a little bit ashamed to admit this, but I didn’t have to think too hard about my choices here, and no, the Lawler/Shields main event isn’t among them. First off, the fight I watch live is easy: Nick Diaz vs. Scott Smith. Diaz would rather go straight-edge than be in a boring fight, and Smith is perfectly fine with taking a beating in order to land one big punch. That’s a recipe for something beautiful, which is part of why I’d rather watch it in HD glory on my TV than in hungover despair on my laptop the next morning.

So what do I wait until Sunday to watch? I’m going to go with Arlovski vs. Rogers. It won’t be a long fight, no matter how it turns out, which is nice because I hate watching three-rounders on the internet. This fight should basically be an Arlovski highlight, or else further evidence that the guy’s chin is made of silly putty. Either way, perfect for the old laptop while I sip coffee and Gatorade and try to keep the room from spinning.

And lastly, the fight I cut altogether is also an easy choice: Mike Whitehead vs. Kevin Randleman. I just don’t have any desire to watch these two struggle in the clinch for three rounds. I once saw two walruses fight over a big rock at the Coney Island aquarium and I don’t see how this ends up being better than that, partly because I think both these guys are kind of boring and partly because that walrus fight was straight-up awesome. Who knows, maybe they’ll turn in a fight of the night performance and make a fool of me, but that would be the biggest shock of the night by far.

BG: Hey man, I’m a senior member of the Nick Diaz Fan Club too — by the way, did you get your decoder ring in the mail yet? The first secret message is “STOCKTON BITCH” — but Diaz vs. Smith is just going to be a straight-up boxing match, and without a personal rivalry to fire Diaz up, he’ll just be going through the motions with his predictable hit-me-in-the-face-I-ain’t-even-got-my-hands-up-homey taunts. Call me crazy, but the fight I have to see live is Arlovski vs. Rogers. I know, I know. But if there’s any fight on the card that guarantees a wild, memorable finish, this is it, and I don’t need some dumbass spoiling it for me on the Internet when I’m just trying to go on Twitter to tell my friends about the sandwich I just ate.

The next morning, I’ll watch Lawler vs. Shields. I don’t care how long it is. I’ll just settle in with a couple slices of cold pizza and watch two top-ten ranked fighters put on what will be the best striker vs. grappler matchup in recent memory. There’s so much talent in the matchup that knowing the result beforehand might not even spoil the enjoyment of watching it.

The fight I’d slash from the lineup is Baroni vs. Riggs. I’m sure it’ll be a great brawl, but considering they’ll both fail their drug tests after the show, they’re probably better off staying home.

Not to call Mike Brown’s win over Urijah Faber a fluke, but there were certain elements about it that seemed fluke-ish. What do you make of his chances to beat Faber again and silence all the Brownie doubters out there?

BF: It only seemed like a fluke because Faber got knocked out while doing something dumb, which isn’t to say that he couldn’t have been knocked out even while fighting fairly smart. One thing we can be sure of is that Lil’ Fabie isn’t going to go out there and try any more spinning back elbows. He’s going to play this one real careful-like, going on the assumption that all he has to do to win is not screw up. Ironically, I think that’s one of the worst ways for him to approach this fight. What Brown has is a big punch and an aggressive style. Playing it too safe against a guy like that is trouble.

Brown’s recent win over Leonard Garcia did a lot to convince me that maybe he isn’t just a one-hit wonder who capitalized on Faber getting too cute. He’ll still be the underdog in this one, but I can easily see him putting another right hand on Faber’s almost unavoidable chin. It won’t be as quick as the first fight, but I’m going to go with Brownie via third-round TKO.

BG: Sure, Faber will be smart enough not to throw that same no-look elbow again, but the concept of playing it safe just isn’t in the California Kid’s DNA. He thrives on improvisation, the element of surprise, the high-risk/high-reward game. It’s why he’s so awesome to watch in the first place. At this point, I don’t think he could change his style even if he wanted to.

When that distinctive style ran aground against Mike Brown, it was no fluke. Brown has the physicality to bully Faber around — a quality which most of Faber’s previous opponents lacked — but he also prides himself on being a technician, particularly when it comes to his defense. He’ll be ready for all of Faber’s tricks, and he won’t be baited into a bad position. And yes, his power punches are f**king inhuman. The dude’s just a bad matchup for Faber, and I say he silences the Brownie doubters once and for all on Sunday. Brown via TKO, round 2. That being said, if the fight goes into the championship rounds, the advantage shifts to Urijah and his endless gas-tank.

Let’s be real: Should Jens Pulver retire after Sunday’s WEC show? Does it matter if he wins or loses?

BG: As sad as Pulver’s recent performances have been, I’m not jumping on the “retire him” bandwagon because A) he clearly loves to compete, and B) he needs to earn money to support his new kid. It’s not like the dude owns his own gym like Matt Hughes or can transition into a successful movie career like Keith Jardine. And how much does a WEC commentary gig really pay?

But here’s the deal: You know how sometimes I’ll say stuff like “[Legendary Fighter X] has been having a rough patch lately, but he’s only lost to top-ten fighters, and he shouldn’t consider retirement until he starts losing to random up-and-comers”? Well, Josh Grispi is that random up-and-comer. He’s the young, dangerous dude who you probably haven’t heard of, who’s just itching to make his name off an old legend like Lil’ Evil. If Pulver loses this one, he has absolutely nowhere else to go in the WEC. Maybe another organization will pick him up for nostalgic value, but he’ll be completely irrelevant as a competitor. Personally, I’d hate to see Pulver bouncing between small shows, trying in vain to pick up wins way past his expiration date. (See also: Mark Kerr) So do us a favor Jens, and win this one, okay?

BF: I’m going to make it quick: yes and no. Pulver ought to hang it up, and that statement is not dependent on what he does this weekend. Look, the guy is 1-5 in his last six fights. He’s 33 years old. His hands aren’t getting any quicker and his overall game isn’t getting any sharper. I don’t mean that as a knock on Pulver. He’s always been one of my favorite inimitable MMA hard-asses, which is what makes it hard to watch flounder around like this. He’s not headed on an upward trajectory in the WEC featherweight class, which is where he dropped to after it became apparent that he wasn’t going anywhere in the UFC’s lightweight class.

The hell of it is, he’s actually pretty good as a commentator for the WEC, sweater vests notwithstanding. Can’t they just let him have that job, where the money has got to be at least comparable to whatever he’s making as a middle-of-the-pack featherweight? Maybe he gets his own radio show in his down time, makes appearances at local car dealerships, and he stays in the black without having to take beatings against every young buck trying to make a name for himself.

Even if he beats Grispi, where does that leave him? He can’t beat Garcia, Faber, or Brown. There’s no light at the end of this tunnel, and the WEC doesn’t have enough of a nostalgic streak to keep paying him just for showing up and giving it his best. He ought to find something else to do soon, before he ends up on the business end of too many Versus highlight reels.