Colby Covington looked to re-establish his relevance, while Joaquin Buckley was in search of the biggest win of his career in the main event of UFC Tampa on Saturday. The former interim champion came into this fight as the betting underdog despite having never lost on a UFC Fight Night in his career (8-0).
Covington was stepping in to replace Ian Machado Garry, who had shifted to UFC 310 last week in a fight with Shavkat Rakhmonov. With Covington, came his usual brand of “Chaos,” a nickname that he has grown into thanks to the deluge of trash talk he tends to unleash ahead of every fight. This time out, it was P. Diddy allegations lodged at NBA star LeBron James, and terrorist references lobbed towards welterweight champ Belal Muhammad.
On Buckley, Covington was perhaps unusually quiet; he even brought Chael Sonnen with him to the ceremonial weigh-ins on Friday, letting one of the sport’s best talkers take to the mic for him. Sonnen opted to stick to fight hype, perhaps saving Covington from further embarrassment. Covington, who had hyped up his entrance during fight week, walked out with Sonnen and Hulk Hogan carrying an American flag by his side.
Buckley came out putting immediate pressure and establishing his jab early. He landed a nice low kick to one-two combination. The first takedown attempt from Colby was easily stuffed. A cut on Covington’s right eye lid clearly started to bother him. Buckley took advantage and threw more combinations coming forward. They were both throwing looping shots, but Buckley was getting the better of these exchanges. Covington shot a double-leg, switched to single-leg, but Buckley completely outmuscled him. He then caught Covington mid-headkick with a right hook and ends the round landing ground-and-pound.
Buckley sprawled on another takedown attempt and landed a good knee to the body on his way up in the early moments of round 2. He kept attacking Colby’s body with hooks, preventing him from pushing his usual pace. Fourth time was the charm for Covington as he finally got Buckley to the ground and took side control. Buckley tried to get to a hip and post on one arm, but Colby did a good job of controlling his wrists to take away his balance. Buckley eventually did get back up and got back to winning the striking battle as Colby’s cut was clearly hampering his ability to see oncoming strikes. A more competitive five minutes, but based on damage, a Buckley round nonetheless.
As the third round was about to start, we could hear the octagon-side doctor telling referee Dan Miragliotta to keep a close look at the cut over Covington’s right eye. The round started with an immediate telegraphed takedown attempt from “Chaos” that was easily seen from far away. Buckley kept mixing up body and head strikes and the accumulation grounded Covington.
Buckley got full mount, but not for long as Colby got back to his feet. By this point Covington’s face is a complete mess and since the blood is evidently obstructing his view, Buckley cannot miss with his punches. The fight got the ground again and Buckley got top position, but an ill-advised back take attempt resulted in an unusual triangle attempt from him that Covington got out of. With Colby on top and Buckley accepting full guard, Colby landed little ground-and-pound shots trying to grind away at Buckley’s gas tank. Once Buckley got to the fence and got back up, referee Dan Miragliotta called time for the doctor to take a closer look at Covington’s cut. The doctor advised Miragliotta to stop it, and he did.
Doctor stoppages often feel anti-climactic, but with a cut on the eye lid that was obviously having a big effect on the fight, it was a justified stoppage.
Official Result: Joaquin Buckley def. Colby Covington by Doctor’s Stoppage (Round 3, 4:42)
