Colby Covington and Joaquin Buckley at UFC Tampa’s ceremonial weigh-in at Amalie Arena, December 13, 2024 Credit: Jay Anderson/Cageside Press
Colby Covington was looking to re-establish his relevance, while Joaquin Buckley was looking for the biggest win of his career in Saturday’s main event at UFC Tampa. The former interim champion entered this bout as an underdog despite never losing on UFC Fight Night in his career (8-0).
Covington was filling in for Ian Machado-Galley, who was transferred to UFC 310 for his fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov last week. In Covington’s case, he has always been given the nickname “Chaos,” which came about because of the amount of trash talk he throws out before the fight. This time, it was P. Diddy’s allegations against NBA star LeBron James, and the terrorist references were directed at welterweight champion Belal Muhammad.
With Buckley, Covington was perhaps unusually quiet. He brought Chell Sonnen to Friday’s ceremonial weigh-in and had one of the best talkers in the sport take the microphone in his place. Sonnen chose to continue fighting the hype, perhaps saving Covington from further embarrassment. Covington, whose entrance was heavily promoted during fight week, exited with an American flag under his arm along with Sonnen and Hulk Hogan.
Buckley came out and immediately applied pressure, establishing his jab early on. He landed a great low kick and showed a one-two combination. Colby’s first takedown attempt was easily stuffed. The cut on Covington’s right eyelid was clearly starting to bother him. Buckley took advantage of that and threw more combinations forward. Both players had looping shots, but Buckley was the best at taking advantage of the exchange. Covington hits a double leg and switches to a single leg, but Buckley completely outworks him. He then caught Covington’s middle head kick with a right hook and finished the round with ground and pound.
Buckley was sprawled on another takedown attempt and landed a nice knee to the body on his way to his feet early in the second round. Buckley continued to attack Colby’s body with hooks, preventing Colby from pushing up at his normal pace. The fourth was the charm for Covington, who finally took Buckley to the ground and took side control. Buckley gets close to the waist and tries to post with one arm, but Colby manages to control his wrist and throws him off balance. Buckley was eventually able to recover and win the striking battle, as Colby’s cut clearly hampered his ability to see the blows coming. A more competitive 5 minutes, but still a Buckley round based on damage.
As the third round was about to begin, an Octagon doctor was heard telling referee Dan Miragliotta to closely monitor the wound above Covington’s right eye. The round began with an instant telegraphed takedown attempt by “Chaos” that was easily seen from a distance. Buckley continued to mix in body and head strikes, and the buildup grounded Covington.
Buckley went to full mount, but that didn’t last long and Colby got back to his feet. Covington’s face is completely disorganized at this point and he is unable to miss Buckley’s punches as the blood is clearly blocking his vision. The match was once again in the ascendancy, with Buckley on top, but an ill-advised backtake attempt caused Buckley to attempt a rare triangle, allowing Covington to escape. With Colby on top and Buckley in full guard, Colby landed a few ground and pound shots trying to chip away at Buckley’s gas tank. As Buckley reached the fence and stood up, referee Dan Miragliotta requested time for doctors to take a closer look at Covington’s cut. Doctors advised Miragliotta to stop it, which he did.
A doctor’s stop often makes me feel terrible, but the cut on his eyelid was clearly having a big impact on the fight, so the doctor’s stop was warranted.
Official Results: Joaquin Buckley def. Colby Covington by Doctor’s Stoppage (Round 3, 4:42)
