Learn MVC in a new project, or stick with WebForms?

I'm a front-end guy who's picked up ASP.NET WebForms through working on various projects at my agency.

I have a project with a developer in mind, and I want to use/learn MVC for it - but he thinks it not worth using MVC at all. His opinion is that the benefits of MVC are perceived, and that performance won't be an issue, and it better to just push forward with WebForms.

The project is a web app that will give people project planning tools, creation of a personal contact database, and their own basic website.

My personal feelings are that I hate all the bloat that comes with WebForms sites - the ViewState, the one , the enormous JS files, the lack of control of markup (e.g. validation controls).

Obviously, ASP.NET WebForms is linked to resources, but MVC is about URL structures and interpreting them.

After discussion and research I'm thinking now that because of the supposedly large transition/learning curve of MVC, it really is better to just stay with WebForms.

I watched Ryan Singer work with RoR MVC in person, and I was stunned at how rapid everything was to develop.

Should I just accept that it's more pragmatic and productive to keep with WebForms now, and not use MVC, or should I find a way of convincing my co-worker that MVC is the right thing to do?