Spinning Back Clique: On Sean Strickland’s career potential, Peña-Nunes as ‘TUF’ coaches, more

Spinning Back Clique: On Sean Strickland’s career potential, Peña-Nunes as ‘TUF’ coaches, more

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.

This week, our panel of Nolan King, Danny Segura, and Matthew Wells discuss these five topics with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia:

• Sean Strickland defeated Jack Hermansson by split decision this past Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 200 to notch his sixth consecutive win and get him closer to a title shot. His popularity has grown as he trudges the boundary lines of fight promotion pre-fight and discussion of his performance post-fight. What are your concerns, if any, with Strickland going forward?
• The next season of “The Ultimate Fighter” drops in May, and the UFC officially named women’s bantamweight champion Julianna Pena and Amanda Nunes as coaches. They’ll oversee a crop of heavyweights and women’s flyweights. This rivalry is almost sure to heat up in this environment? So 1-10, how fired up are you? Did the UFC pick the right coaching matchup?
• Former UFC featherweight title challenger Chad Mendes is coming out of retirement to fight at “BKFC: Knucklemania II” later this month. He says he’ll make more to fight in bare knuckle than Francis Ngannou’s disclosed $600,000 purse for his latest title defense at UFC 270. Did that statement surprise you? Are promotions like BKFC and Eagle FC just as good of options as established players Bellator, PFL and ONE Championship for combat sports athletes?
• Jon Jones is of the opinion that the heavyweight GOAT, Stipe Miocic, and the light heavyweight GOAT, himself, should tangle for the UFC heavyweight interim title while undisputed champion Ngannou recovers from his knee surgery that’s expected to keep him out for nine months. Does this make sense for all parties and the UFC’s heavyweight division?
• Turning the page to this weekend, Israel Adesanya defends his middleweight title vs. Robert Whittaker in a rematch at UFC 271. Going into it, does this feel any different than how you felt about the first fight? Does history repeat itself, or should we buckle up for a Part 3 down the road?

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