Spinning Back Clique: Triller fallout, DWCS contract frenzy, Romero’s Bellator title prospects, more

Spinning Back Clique: Triller fallout, DWCS contract frenzy, Romero’s Bellator title prospects, more

Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.

This week, we cover the aftermath of Evander Holyfield vs. Vitor Belfort and Anderson Silva vs. Tito Ortiz, as well as talk Dana White’s Contender Series’ apparently new approach and more.

Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Mike Bohn, Danny Segura and George Garcia debates and discusses these topics with host John Morgan:

• Triller Fight Club held center stage this past Saturday, and in the main event, we saw Vitor Belfort score a first-round TKO of a 58-year-old Evander Holyfield. Obviously, Holyfield was not the originally intended opponent for Belfort, but the fight did take place – and we might be lucky nothing bad happened. Was this a bridge too far in this era of novelty boxing events?
• Anderson Silva also knocked out Tito Ortiz at Triller Fight Club, and “The Spider” seems to really be enjoying a successful run at boxing. After his win, the calls for Jake Paul immediately came forward. But Belfort seems to want Paul, as well, with Triller offering up an insane purse of $30 million. So what’s the fight to make here: Paul vs. Belfort or Paul vs. Silva?
• Back in the world of MMA, the UFC has been handing out contracts with increasing regularity on this season of Dana White’s Contender Series, with 10 fighters getting deals after just 9 fights on the show. It seems the standard for earning a deal has dropped this year. Should that be concerning?
• It’s a dual-event Saturday this weekend, with both the UFC and Bellator going head to head, but the most intriguing name on both cards may very well be Yoel Romero. At 44 years old, Romero is ready to make his Bellator debut, and he’s got a top contender right off the bat in Phil Davis. Romero was never quite able to claim UFC gold, but will he be able to capture the Bellator belt before he’s done? What’s the projection for Romero at Bellator?
• Speaking of Bellator, they made a major announcement this week in the signing of Kyoji Horiguchi. Love it, hate it or simply lukewarm?
• Lastly this week, Olympic wrestling gold medalist Gable Steveson announced that he is taking his talents to the world of professional wrestling, signing with the WWE rather than pursuing an MMA career. Think he made the right call?

“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Tuesday on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel.