Welcome to “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts. This week, Simon Head hosts and is joined by MMA Junkie Radio’s “Gorgeous” George and “Goze,” as well as senior reporter Mike Bohn.
SHOW TOPICS
- [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag]’s risk, taking a welterweight title fight on six days’ notice, didn’t pay off as champion [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] won a convincing unanimous decision in the UFC 251 main event. Masvidal’s stock was soaring heading in, but where does he stand now, and can he work his way back to another title shot?
- Usman, meanwhile, seemingly has two clear options for his next title defense: [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] or [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag]. Both men have made their cases with a heated exchange. Who should it be?
- Large sections of MMA Twitter were screaming robbery after featherweight champion [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] won a narrow split decision against [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] in their rematch at UFC 251. The result really puts former champ Holloway in a tricky spot now with two losses to the current titleholder. So what’s his best play to get out of it?
- In a fight between former champions, [autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag] scored a unanimous decision win over Jessica Andrade in their “Fight of the Night” rematch at UFC 251. The result all but sets up a title shot for “Thug Rose” against another big hitter in [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag]. After what we saw Saturday, who’s the way-too-early pick between Weili and Namajunas?
- Coming up on Saturday, [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] and [autotag]Joseph Benavidez[/autotag] will run it back for the vacant flyweight title at UFC on ESPN+ 30. Figueiredo, who missed weight when they fought in February, won the first bout by stoppage. Who wins this time around?
For answers to all of those questions, watch Episode 37 of “Spinning Back Clique” above.