Spinning Back Clique: Did Glover Teixeira steal Israel Adesanya’s title shot at 205?
Welcome to “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly show that takes a quick spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts. This week, Simon Head hosts the panel of MMA Junkie Radio’s “Gorgeous” George and “Goze,” as well as MMA Junkie’s lead staff reporter John Morgan. Let’s get after it!
SHOW TOPICS
- Glover Teixeira, at 41, claimed an impressive submission win over Thiago Santos this past Saturday at UFC on ESPN+ 40 for his fourth in a row and cementing himself as the No. 1 contender at light heavyweight. There’s just one problem: UFC president Dana White had already said prior to the fight that the plan was for middleweight champion Israel Adesanya to move up and challenge Jan Blachowicz for the 205-pound title. Will the White and Co. stick to it, or do right by Teixeira?
- Max Griffin nearly severed Ramiz Brahimaj’s ear at UFC on ESPN+ 40 in one of the grossest in-fight injuries we’ve ever seen, and that got us reflecting on some of the most graphic injuries in MMA history.
- UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko said on the “Hablemos MMA” podcast that a trilogy fight with champ-champ Amanda Nunes seems “very logical.” When? That’s up in the air. Our question: Does a Shevchenko-Nunes trilogy have to happen, and if so, should it happen sooner than later?
- Bellator 252 on Thursday will bring us (finally) the final two featherweight grand prix quarterfinals as champ Patricio Freire meets Pedro Carvalho, and Emmanuel Sanchez takes on Daniel Weichel. Who do we expect to advance?
For answers to all of those questions, watch Episode 52 of “Spinning Back Clique” above.
Spinning Back Clique: Did Glover Teixeira steal Israel Adesanya’s title shot at 205?
