In Lojban, the two are equivalent (as far as I know), and it's a matter of style
whether you stick arguments "higher" than x1 on the left or the right of the
selbri.
But, practically, it is much more sense to put the "higher argument"
where it will be heard or read first. It makes your sentence more
coherent to your listener or reader. And it gets straight to the point.
"I you gave me the cat like" sounds kinda caveman-ish to me ;-o
mi'e nei,omis.
There are some languages in which the verb comes at the end of the
clause. Japanese may be one. But I suppose one would want to be
consistent in where the verb/predicate goes. Hence:
{ i mi le nu do le mlatu mi dunda kei cu nelci }
mu'i mi'e komfo,amonan