UFC Tampa Preview
The last card in 2024 for the UFC is going down Saturday, December 14th at the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay, Florida. The main event will be in the welterweight division between former interim champion #6 Colby Covington and #9 Joaquin Buckley.
Covington has not fought in a year since he unsuccessfully challenged for the welterweight title at UFC 296. It marked his third time fighting for the belt but coming up short. The 36-year-old is 2-3 in his last five fights and when you add his inactivity to his inconsistency, he has drifted out of the conversation as a top contender in the division.
While he has shown signs of greatness in the octagon, Convington is known by the fans more as an outlandish trash-talker who goes on incoherent rants that at times have nothing to do with the fight he is in or his opponent. However, he has commented on Buckley and has made a typical Covington style prediction. “I’m going to break this kid in half, I’m going to break every bone in his body, he’s never going to be the same after December 14. He has no idea, he’s never fought or faced anyone like me. It’s going to be a tough night for him,” Covington said.
Covington wants to remind everyone that he is not a steppingstone, and he is still as good as he ever was despite his last loss. “After Masvidal, I got another shot for the undisputed title,” Covington said. “The first kick I threw, I broke it on his elbow, I was compromised from the very first round, the very first 30 seconds of the fight and I knew it was going to be a tough night for me. With a broken foot in a big fight against a guy who wanted to take my head off, who’s probably the hardest fight I’ve ever had to endure. I know I’m so much better than that. Now, it’s about coming back and giving the fans a real treat of who Colby ‘Chaos’ Covington. People have tried to write me off, and now it’s about re-writing all those wrongs.”
The former interim champion believes he has learned from his losses. "After I lost three shots at the undisputed title, it felt like the lowest of low," Covington said. "I lost and forgot who I was. It was a good reminder that woke me up again. I just had to cancel out the bad energy and couldn't let the hype and ego get to my head.
“I had to train harder to become the No. 1 contender again because all I ever wanted was to be the undisputed champion,” he added. “That's all I cared about.”
He concluded by saying, "It's been a year since my last fight and I've used that time to really grow myself as a martial artist and as a person,” Covington concluded. “Mentally speaking, I'm in a better place than I've ever been."
Covington has key wins over Demian Maia, Rafael Dos Anjos, Robbie Lawler, Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal. A win over Buckley who is favored in the fight will keep him hovering around the top 5 of the division and perhaps set him up for a high-profile fight with another younger contender on the rise.
Since returning to welterweight, Buckley has won five straight fights. His most recent win was a third round KO over former two-time title challenger Stephen Thompson. He saw some success at middleweight in the UFC but appeared to be at a size disadvantage for the division in key fights. This run at welterweight has set him up nicely to prove on Saturday that he is a title contender.
The 30-year-old believes a convincing win against Covington puts him in the title conversation. “The performance that I’m going to put on Colby Covington, I can probably take the opportunity to fight for the belt one day,” Buckley said.
Buckley understands the skills Covington brings into the fight. “The pace that he’s able to put on guys is tremendous. He might not have much punching power and the ability to finish guys, but he has a good ability of breaking guys and wearing them out mentally.”
While he respects Covington, Buckley is confident that he is better. “To be honest with you, he has no other choice but to wrestle. My man gotta wrestle for his life, but with that being said, I like that challenge. I like the idea that he is going out there to shoot and try to grapple and use his best weapon. And yet again, it’s still not going to be enough.”
The St. Louis native believes that growth is his biggest asset right now. “I feel like change is necessary; you can’t keep doing the same things.” Buckley said. “Even though a lot of people are like, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, nah, I don’t believe in that. I believe that you always gotta grow and you always gotta put yourself in the position where you’re getting better. I feel like with this move and with this change, I have been able to adapt my game just a little bit better, and that’s why you keep seeing me grow.”
Buckley feels the work paid off in his last fight against Thompson. “We knew we was gonna get the knockout up against the cage so that’s why we kept pushing him up against the cage. And as he’s thinking. ‘Oh, he’s gonna wrestle me,’ we change our level, we come back upstairs and we got the knockout. Yet again, it’s just being versatile and being dynamic in the cage, I think that’s one thing I can do.”
With a win Buckley would move into the top six of the welterweight division. The winning streak would speak for itself but Buckley’s personality along with his finishing capabilities make him prime for a big fight in 2025 if he can defeat Covington in Tampa.
The rest of the main card:
Featherweight - Cub Swanson vs. Billy Quarantillo
Flyweight - #9 Manel Kape vs. #12 Bruno Gustavo da Silva
Light Heavyweight - Vitor Petrino vs. Dustin Jacoby
Bantamweight - Adrian Yañez vs. Daniel Marcos
Light Heavyweight - Navajo Stirling vs. Tuco Tokkos
ESPN + Prelims:
Lightweight - Michael Johnson vs. Ottman Azaitar
Lightweight - Joel Álvarez vs. Drakkar Klose
Featherweight - Sean Woodson vs. Fernando Padilla
Featherweight - Miles Johns vs. Felipe Lima
Women's Flyweight - Miranda Maverick vs. Jamey-Lyn Horth
Bantamweight - Davey Grant vs. Ramon Taveras
Women's Strawweight - Josefine Lindgren Knutsson vs. Piera Rodriguez
