Ask the Potato

(‘You like what you see, yes?’)

It’s time again to raid our forums and answer your deepest questions.  This time around, we cover everything from fighter rankings to how to get into Affliction: Day of Reckoning on the cheap.  You shiftless no-accounts. 

If you have a question of your own head on over to the official Ask the Potato thread and we’ll deal with you in turn. 

Last time Affliction: Banned had a barn burning sale on tickets the day of the event, As someone who lives under an hour from the Honda center and a fan of seeing Fedor live at least once, would you suggest buying a ticket now or wait till the day of in hopes the box office drops prices again? – Hussdawg22

Don’t you dare buy a ticket now, Hussdawg.  I realize I shouldn’t say that, and I’m not helping Affliction’s cause any, but dammit, as your unofficial MMA-related financial advisor I simply cannot recommend that purchase.  

For one thing, you don’t even know for sure if that show will happen on that date.  With the Mosley-Margarito bout in the same region on the same night, and with all Affliction’s troubles, they may reschedule it or drop it altogether.  Anything’s possible with them. 

But more importantly, that event will not sell out.  You will still be able to get a ticket on fight day, and it’s a very good bet that you’ll be able to get a good seat cheap.  You don’t want to be the jerk who pays $250 to sit next to some dudes from Cal State Fullerton who paid thirty bucks a pop.

After seeing Torres tear through another "number 1 contender", what does the B&B Potato Entrapment Company think of level of competition in the WEC’s bantamweight division? Is it on par with the UFC’s welter or middle weight division and Torres is just THAT damn good or is it more along the lines of the UFC’s lightweight division where most of the weight division’s talent is in Japan?  — Geriatric Peon

Here’s what we think of the WEC’s bantamweight division: it’s fun to watch, but it in no way represents a sampling of the best in the world.  There are just too many great Japanese fighters at that weight who either have no interest in, or are not being provided with the right incentives to come to America and fight in the WEC.  

Who can blame them?  In Japan they get more money, more love, and they don’t have to hear Joe Martinez butcher their name in front of 3,000 people at the Hard Rock.  The situation isn’t likely to change because the WEC doesn’t really need them enough to lure them over, and they don’t need the WEC.  Still, as long as you keep it in perspective, and as long as it’s free on Versus (hint, hint, Zuffa), it’s a pleasure to watch.

Coming off the liveblog @ 91, where exactly do you sit Ben? Are you down there with the press or do you have your laptop higher up in the venue?  — Faderade

Press row, thank God.  I’d hate to be up in the cheap seats with my laptop and have a cop body slam some drunk guy on top of it.  Plus I need the power outlet so I don’t sap my battery playing Rise of Nations during the intermission.

What criteria does CagePotato use to determine their rankings? What is the ranking process like?  — T Rex

In a word, grueling.  That’s what the ranking process is like.  We collect all the data we can on every fighter and lock ourselves in an old fallout shelter with only vodka and baked beans for nourishment.  Near the end of day three we usually blackout.  When we come to, the Power Rankings page is updated.  We don’t know how or when, and we don’t ask.

Okay, that’s not true.  Really, we rank fighters the same way everyone else does: we guess.  We approximate.  We go off recent performances, quality of opponents, and a little gut feeling.  It’s as flawed and subjective as a degree from a liberal arts college, but it’s the best we can do.