Joaquin Buckley Cuts Colby Covington Early, Batters 'Chaos' in UFC Tampa Main Event

Buckley Extends Welterweight Win Streak In Tampa

The UFC's year-ending event in Tampa was originally supposed to be headlined by Buckley and Ian Machado Garry, but after Welterweight Champion Belal Muhammad withdrew from UFC 310 the promotion moved Garry to that card for a co-main event matchup with Shavkat Rakhmonov.

UFC Fight Night Tampa Live Results & Highlights – Colby Covington vs. Joaquin Buckley

Covington somewhat unexpectedly stepped up for the short-notice opportunity against Buckley, which marked the former interim champion's first Octagon appearance since he challenged Leon Edwards for the welterweight belt at UFC 296 last December.

The opening five minutes saw Covington suffer an early cut over his eye that was a clear distraction for "Chaos", and it was Buckley who boasted a clear speed advantage with his striking when he wasn't shutting down Covington's takedown attempts.

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Covington finally managed to bring things to the mat in the second round but was unable to hold "New Mansa" there, and although the former interim champion's chin continued to hold up well the big shots he was absorbing opened his cut up even more and required some attention from the cageside doctor.

A warning from the referee to protect his eye gave Covington a renewed sense of urgency to start the third frame, but the 36-year-old continued eating big shots and was once again unable to keep Buckley on the mat before the cageside doctor took another look at his eye and the fight was called off.

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"New Mansa" is now on a six-fight win streak with four finishes since moving down to welterweight, and after securing victory in his first UFC main event the 30-year-old may be due for a Top 5 matchup in his next outing.

The UFC's year-ending card in Tampa began with three-straight decisions but ended up being a knockout-heavy affair, which included the night's co-main event where longtime UFC and WEC veteran Cub Swanson turned back the clock to score a walk-off knockout against Billy Quarantillo.