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

Spinning Back Clique: Dana White’s Musk-Zuck non-gimmick gimmick, PFL controversy, 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, Farah Hannoun and Nolan King join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia live at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate:

  • Dana White, in the past, has been anti-gimmick when it comes to promoting fights. But now he seems to be all in pushing for a fight in the UFC between Meta (Facebook) head Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter boss Elon Musk, two of the wealthiest people in the world with no professional combat sports experience.
  • The PFL booked a regular season bout between best friends and longtime training partners Natan Schulte and Raush Manfio for this past Friday. The fighters went through a glorified sparring match, won by Schulte to clinch a playoff spot. Instead, the PFL removed him from the postseason and suspended him and Manfio for not fighting in the spirit of competition. Now there’s outrage over the move.
  • Ilia Topuria put on one of the most outstanding performances in recent memory and put up some seldom-seen numbers in his UFC on ABC 5 main event win over Josh Emmett. Was this Topuria’s coming-out party? Should he be next in line for a featherweight title shot?
  • In the UFC on ABC 5 co-main event, Maycee Barber had a career-defining upset win over Amanda Ribas and now is right in the hunt for a shot at new women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso, who beat Barber in 2021 on her path to the title.
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