Spinning Back Clique: Nate Diaz’s decision, UFC Paris, Paul vs. Silva, and 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.
Our panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Dan Tom and Danny Segura discuss five topics with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.
- Nate Diaz headlines UFC 279 on Saturday against Khamzat Chimaev. He’s a massive underdog, and it’s the last fight on his contract after 15 years with the UFC. Is this the last time we’ll see him in the octagon? Or can we expect the unexpected and after all his public gripes about the UFC, will he re-sign with the promotion?
- At UFC Fight Night 209 this past Saturday, Ciryl Gane took out Tai Tuivasa with a third-round knockout. It was a huge win for the Frenchman in front of his home fans in Paris, and now he can make a claim to be back in the heavyweight title picture. So how should we sort out that division in the UFC now that he’s back on track and we’re still waiting for Jon Jones’ debut in the weight class and the returns of Stiple Miocic and champ Francis Ngannou?
- Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos was critical of Gane’s win over Tuivasa and said a hammerfist Gane landed to the back of Tuivasa’s head during the fight-ending ground-and-pound made him a “dirty fighter.” JDS has some experience here. His loss to Gane ended in a similar fashion, but in that case, too, the referee didn’t deem anything illegal. What do we think? Is Dos Santos going too far calling Gane dirty, or is he on the right path?
- It looks like Jake Paul’s next boxing match is going to be against former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, one of MMA’s all-time greatest fighters. Silva has been grated a boxing license in Arizona, which paves the way for the fight to happen. An announcement could come very soon. MMA fans have a love-hate relationship with Paul. But will he start to turn the page with them by boxing someone as well-regarded as Silva? And what do we think about the matchup?
- Nate Diaz got his start in the WEC. And like PRIDE and Strikeforce, the WEC eventually was folded into the UFC. Most of the fighters from those three promotions have retired or are fighting outside the UFC. But looking back, which promotion did the UFC get the most bang for its buck from: PRIDE, WEC or Strikeforce?
“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Tuesday on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel. You can watch the full episode in the video above.
Spinning Back Clique: Nate Diaz’s decision, UFC Paris, Paul vs. Silva, and more
