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 Danny Segura, Simon Samano and Brian “Goze” Garcia discuss five topics with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.
- The biggest fight from this past weekend saw Marlon Vera defeat Dominick Cruz in the main event at UFC on ESPN 41 in San Diego. Both men fought well, with Cruz taking a 2-1 lead going into Round 4. Cruz had been very active and put lots of pressure on “Chito,” while Vera was patient but potent. And then BOOM! A head kick ended the fight in the fourth to mark four wins in a row for Vera, who entered as No. 5 bantamweight in the official UFC rankings. How seriously should Vera be taken as a title contender at 135 pounds?
- California, which sanctioned UFC on ESPN 41, is one of the few states that releases fighter pay, and that’s always an interesting discussion. The numbers for this event came out after UFC president Dana White made some eye-raising comments to GQ about fighter pay in which he said raises are “never gonna happen while I’m still here” while also making claims about fighters, as a whole, getting a cut of pay-per-views, which isn’t accurate (unless something significant has changed without being announced). What did you think of White’s latest musings on this topic, and what did you first think when you saw the UFC on ESPN 41 salaries?
- The UFC has strayed from the standard four fighters receiving $200,000 total in bonuses on more than one occasion this year, and it would’ve been nice for UFC on ESPN 41, but that wasn’t the case. Only Vera (Performance), Tyson Nam (Performance) and Nate Landwehr vs. David Onama (Fight) received an extra $50,000 on a night when there were a bunch of finishes and deserving performances. Are you OK with the randomness of extra bonuses, or should the UFC have a standard formula (i.e. all finishers get a bonus) across the board?
- At 33, Rory MacDonald announced his retirement from MMA this past weekend after he was TKO’d by short-notice replacement Dilano Taylor. It was a stunning exit from the PFL welterweight playoffs for MacDonald, which apparently signaled to him that it was time to hang up his gloves. Simple questions: What is MacDonald’s legacy in this sport?
- Looking ahead to this weekend, there is a boat load of big fights coming our way between UFC 278, 2022 PFL Playoffs 3 and, oh yeah, BKFC London, which features Mike Perry up against Michael Page and the return of Paige VanZant. What fight are you targeting to possibly steal the show, and why?
“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Tuesday on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel. You can watch the full episode in the video above.
