Spinning Back Clique: UFC 282 judging controversies, Bellator grand prix, more

Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts. This week’s panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Mike Bohn and Farah Hannoun will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia live at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate:

• The UFC 282 main event was supposed to crown a new light heavyweight champion. Instead, a lackluster fight resulted in a split draw – and the title stayed vacant. An upset Dana White moved on from former champ Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev and now will put the title up for ex-champ Glover Teixeira and Jamahal Hill. We react to a crazy scenario.
• In the UFC 282 co-main event, Paddy Pimblett won his fight against Jared Gordon. But very few people concurred with the judges’ scorecards, and many people already have called his win one of the year’s biggest robberies. Did his stock drop despite the win?
• UFC 282, prior to the co-main and main events, featured 10 straight finishes – and all 10 of those fighters got $50,000 bonuses. So of all of them, who was the biggest star of the card?
• For the first time, Bryce Mitchell went home with a loss at UFC 282. Darren Till’s struggles continued. Pimblett won in controversial fashion. Across the country at Bellator 289 the night before, Danny Sabatello got a 50-45 scorecard in his favor, but lost his fight to Raufeon Stots. Whose star power took the biggest hit this past weekend?
• Bellator’s bantamweight grand prix has its finalists: Interim champ Raufeon Stots and Patchy Mix will meet sometime in 2023 with Stots’ belt on the line and $1 million for the winner. The winner also will set up a title unification bout with Sergio Pettis, who said he’s ready to return from knee surgery. Has the tournament played out well for Bellator?

“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Monday LIVE on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel. You can watch this week’s episode in the video above.