In the final UFC event of 2024, from Amalie Arena in Tampa Florida, fireworks were around every corner. Featuring six stellar knockouts and a few upset wins, UFC Tampa was a hot way to end the season for the UFC.

In the main event of the evening, Joaquin Buckley proved that his recent successes in the UFC were no fluke, as he defeated multi-time title challenger Colby Covington via TKO (Doctor’s Stoppage), as he continues to blaze a path towards the Welterweight title.

Buckley looked sharp and strong in a fight where he mostly neutralized the offensive wrestling of Covington, stuffing seven of eight takedown attempts while battering him on the feet. In round one, Buckley would open Covington’s eye with a nasty cut, that would eventually lead to the aforementioned doctor’s stoppage. Many protested the stoppage, saying it wasn’t as deep as some previous fighter cuts that were let go, but with the way the fight was going, Covington was saved from a ton of unnecessary damage. With the win, Buckley (through vote of fan applause) set his sights on former champ Kamaru Usman, while others say he should fight Ian Garry, who just recently came off a loss to the undefeated Shavkhat Rakhmonov.

For Covington, the window to finding himself back to title contention seems to be shut, and likely for good, as the 36 year old fighter looks to be on the decline in a division that is slowly but surely becoming younger. When all is said and done, his legacy in the UFC will be one of controversy, pageantry, and showmanship … The self proclaimed “America’s Champion” came up short in three title shots through a five fight stretch, but always found a way to stay in the headlines, love him or hate him.

SIX in a row for @NewMansa94 👏#UFCTampa pic.twitter.com/FCbAqtSsod

— UFC (@ufc) December 15, 2024

Also on the card: 

• Cub Swanson proved that he still has it at 41 years of age by knocking out Billy Quarantillo in the fight of the night.
• Dustin Jacoby earned a performance of the night bonus when he knocked out Vitor Petrino in the biggest upset win of the night.
• Daniel Marcos stayed undefeated as he edged Adrian Yanez in a split decision victory.
• Navajo won his debut UFC fight over Tuco Tokkos as the night’s biggest favorite.
• Michael Johnson earned a performance of the night bonus with his knockout of Ottman Azaitar.
• Joel Alvarez stayed on a win streak with a KO victory over Drakkar Klose.
• Sean Woodson also earned a knockout on the card, defeating Fernando Padilla.
• Felipe Lima earned a unanimous decision over Miles Johns.
• Miranda Maverick cashed as the second biggest favorite on the card by defeating Jamey-Lyn Horth via unanimous decision.
• Davey Grant earned a unanimous decision against Ramon Taveras
• Piera Rodriguez earned an upset unanimous decision over Josefine Knutsson.

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12/9/2024