Spinning Back Clique LIVE (noon ET): Bellator x PFL reaction, Ngannou’s next move, UFC surprises and 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, Matthew Wells and Danny Segura will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia live at 12 p.m. ET (9 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate:
- The first meeting between the PFL’s champions and their counterparts from Bellator was a landslide in Saudi Arabia. The only PFL winner in the head-to-head matchups was heavyweight Renan Ferreira, who knocked out Ryan Bader in 21 seconds. That result was an important one. (See below.) But what did the other fights mean, and what will things look like going forward? Was that a true indicator of No. 2 vs. No. 3 in the MMA space?
- The sweepstakes for who’s next on Francis Ngannou’s list is starting to wind down. Ferreira’s quick destruction of Bader made things look a lot clearer, and the PFL said Ferreira will be Ngannou’s first PFL MMA fight. But Ngannou is boxing Anthony Joshua next, and if he wins, don’t think for a second that lucrative boxing opportunities will be there.
- Brandon Royval and Brian Ortega weren’t massive underdogs going into the UFC Fight Night 237 main and co-main events in Mexico City, but let’s be honest: Not many were picking them to win. But Royval took a close decision from former flyweight champ Brandon Moreno and Ortega rallied from a rough first round to submit former interim featherweight champ Yair Rodriguez in the third. It was a big night and week for the UFC in Mexico, so which surprise big result was most impressive?
- These fighters love to retire, don’t they? They also probably love to change their minds about it even more, most of them. Henry Cejudo is the latest to change his mind. He retired in 2020. He came back in 2023, and going into Saturday said if he lost to Merab Dvalishvili, he’d retire again. He lost, but now says he’s not done after all. Tony Ferguson practically has fans and analysts begging him to hang it up, but he says he won’t, either. Of the list of fighters who are on the bubble but refuse to go to the next chapter, whose potential comeback would be the most impressive?
- There were some great fights between PFL vs. Bellator and UFC Mexico. So outside of the top-shelf matchups, who made the most noise and gained the most traction? Who will we be talking about on this show later this year vs. who might have just had a good night?