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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
MMA Junkie Staff

Spinning Back Clique: Merab Dvalishvili’s Statement, Bellator 292 Recap, UFC 286 Preview (noon ET)

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 Danny Segura, Farah Hannoun and Brian “Goze” Garcia will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia live at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate:

  • What a performance from Merab Dvalishvili this past Saturday at UFC Fight Night 221, where he scored a clean-sweep unanimous decision win over former bantamweight champion Petr Yan in the main event. What type of statement did Dvalishvili make with his dominant showing?
  • It wasn’t so long ago that Yan was the UFC bantamweight champion and doing well in his first title defense with Aljamain Sterling going into the championship rounds. Then that infamous illegal knee occurred, which led to a disqualification and Yan lost his title. Including that fight, Yan is now 1-4 in past five. What has gone wrong?
  • Bellator 292 took place this past weekend in San Jose, where the lightweight grand prix kicked off with a pair of quarterfinals, including champion Usman Nurmagomedov running through Benson Henderson for a first-round submission win. The performance garnered a lot of praise from MMA fans and media for the cousin of Khabib as they labeled him one of the best lightweights on the planet. Agree or disagree?
  • After the fight, Henderson announced his retirement and laid his gloves down in the cage. Henderson is a WEC OG who, at one point, was the best lightweight on the planet as the UFC champion. What was your reaction to seeing him lay down the gloves, and where do you rank him amongst lightweights all time?
  • UFC 286 takes place  Saturday, live from London, and features one of the most anticipated bouts of the year, the trilogy between welterweight champion Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman. We all remember last year when Usman was up on all the judges’ scorecards until Edwards struck the head-kick Knockout of the Year in the fifth round for the win. How big is this fight for both men, and what will be the difference this time around?

“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.

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