The Doggy Bag: Topics of the Week

---

Everyone answers to somebody, so we, the staff at Sherdog.com, have decided to defer to our readers.

“The Doggy Bag” gives you the opportunity to speak about what’s on your mind from time to time.

Our reporters, columnists, radio hosts, and editors will chime in with our answers and thoughts, so keep the emails coming.

It was a wild week in MMA, from the controversial announcements regarding Strikeforce’s heavyweight tournament, the unveiling of the TUF 13 coaches, talks of Anthony Pettis’ next opponent, a potential shot for Mark Hominick and more. Sherdog.com staff weighs in on all the major matters of the week, as well as debating some contrary-minded readers about the Sherdog.com 2010 Awards.

---

Brock Lesnar, the reclusive and surly mountain man, and Junior dos Santos, the broken English speaker, are awful choices for coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter,” considering they had Urijah Faber waiting in the wings. Are they saving him to coach against Miguel Torres? Maybe they’re worried about them being on screen with welterweights and looking [small]? Either way, Lesnar and “Cigano” seem like bad choices.
-- Brandon from Kentucky

Brian Knapp, features editor: In the television industry, it boils down to one word -- ratings -- and no other athlete in mixed martial arts can tickle the Nielsen numbers like Brock Lesnar, now that Kimbo Slice has apparently decided to go the boxing route. Love him, hate him or greet his name with indifference, Lesnar remains the top box office draw in MMA, even after the one-sided shellacking he took from Cain Velasquez at UFC 121 in October.

Spike TV executives, who benefited tremendously from Slice’s presence on Season 10, had to be foaming at the mouth at the mere mention of Lesnar as a potential coach on “The Ultimate Fighter.” Frankly, I see no downside to having him coach opposite dos Santos. Lesnar will bring in the eyeballs, and dos Santos will become a known personality playing a face to Lesnar’s heel. Together, they can set the stage for a massive heavyweight title eliminator while Velasquez heals from shoulder surgery. What else were they going to do with Lesnar in the meantime? He makes too much money and has become too valuable a commodity to involve him in anything less than blockbuster matchups.

Guys like Faber and Torres -- I actually prefer Dominick Cruz over Torres at this point -- will have their moment in the reality show sun at some point in the near future, but the UFC would have been foolish not to pursue Lesnar and dos Santos as coaches if it knew the possibility existed. I could not disagree more with you on this one. Everyone benefits.

Continue Reading » Page Two: Strikeforce's heavyweight Tournament