Spinning Back Clique REPLAY: Buckley thrashes Covington at UFC Tampa, Jones-Aspinall, 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, Mike Bohn and Danny Segura join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia to discuss and debate the following topics:

• Joaquin Buckley pretty much destroyed three-time welterweight title challenger Colby Covington in the UFC on ESPN 63 main event. Should Covington have been given a longer leash by the doc? And what’s next for both fighters in the wake of the result? Does Buckley have title potential? Should Covington call it quits and go away? 
• UFC on ESPN 63 in Tampa, Fla., turned out to be one of the year’s best events when it comes to highlight-reel finishes. There were seven knockouts to pick from, including four straight to close the show. Those wins also led to some interesting callouts, so we’ll break down all the big news below the main event.
• Even though UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones has basically ruled out a fight against interim titleholder Tom Aspinall to unify the belts, Dana White says it’s going to happen in 2025. So which side do we believe at this point?  
• Years after an initial tease of a new promotion called the Global Fight League, it’s back – and has signed nearly 50 former UFC fighters for its team-based format. We just saw the PFL buy Bellator – only to (currently, anyway) let it languish and waste away to basically non-existence. Is there room in the MMA space for another promotion to have success? What has the GFL done good so far, and what does it have to do to not only just stay alive, but thrive?
• Plenty of new big matchups have been announced for the start of 2025, and we’ll dive into a bunch of them now that the UFC’s 2024 calendar is complete.