UFC on ESPN: Covington vs. Buckley
Mixed martial arts event in 2024
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UFC on ESPN: Covington vs. Buckley (also known as UFC on ESPN 63) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 14, 2024, at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, United States.[2][3]
| UFC on ESPN: Covington vs. Buckley | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
The poster for UFC on ESPN: Covington vs. Buckley | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | December 14, 2024 | |||
| Venue | Amalie Arena | |||
| City | Tampa, Florida, United States | |||
| Attendance | 18,625[1] | |||
| Total gate | $3,060,000[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
The event marked the promotion's fourth visit to Tampa and first since UFC Fight Night: Joanna vs. Waterson in October 2019.[3]
A welterweight bout between Joaquin Buckley and Ian Machado Garry was expected to headline the event.[4] However, Garry was pulled to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 a week earlier and was replaced by former interim UFC Welterweight Champion Colby Covington.[5]
A bantamweight bout between Umar Nurmagomedov and Song Yadong was originally reported to headline the event.[6] However, the bout never materialized due to Song being injured.[7]
A women's flyweight bout between Tracy Cortez and Miranda Maverick was originally scheduled to take place at UFC on ESPN: Lemos vs. Jandiroba in July, but Cortez was pulled from the contest in order to serve as a replacement against former two-time UFC Women's Strawweight Champion Rose Namajunas a week earlier at UFC on ESPN: Namajunas vs. Cortez.[8] They were then expected to meet at this event.[9] However, Cortez was forced to withdraw due to health issues that required her to have surgery and was replaced by former LFA Women's Flyweight Champion Jamey-Lyn Horth.[10][11]
A bantamweight bout between Said Nurmagomedov and Daniel Marcos was scheduled for this event.[12] However, Nurmagomedov withdrew from the fight for unknown reasons and was replaced by Adrian Yañez.[13]
A women's strawweight rematch between Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Ribas was scheduled for this event.[14] The duo previously met at the promotion's last visit to Tampa, when Ribas won by unanimous decision.[15] However, the bout was moved to January 11, 2025 to serve as the main event at UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Ribas 2.[16]
Results
| Main card (ESPN2 / ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Welterweight | Joaquin Buckley | def. | Colby Covington | TKO (doctor stoppage) | 3 | 4:42 | |
| Featherweight | Cub Swanson | def. | Billy Quarantillo | KO (punch) | 3 | 1:36 | |
| Flyweight | Manel Kape | def. | Bruno Gustavo da Silva | TKO (body kick and punches) | 3 | 1:57 | [a] |
| Light Heavyweight | Dustin Jacoby | def. | Vitor Petrino | KO (punch) | 3 | 3:44 | |
| Bantamweight | Daniel Marcos | def. | Adrian Yañez | Decision (split) (28–29, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Navajo Stirling | def. | Tuco Tokkos | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPNews / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Lightweight | Michael Johnson | def. | Ottman Azaitar | KO (punch) | 2 | 2:03 | |
| Lightweight | Joel Álvarez | def. | Drakkar Klose | KO (flying knee and punches) | 1 | 2:48 | |
| Featherweight | Sean Woodson | def. | Fernando Padilla | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:58 | |
| Featherweight | Felipe Lima | def. | Miles Johns | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Miranda Maverick | def. | Jamey-Lyn Horth | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Davey Grant | def. | Ramon Taveras | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Piera Rodríguez | def. | Josefine Lindgren Knutsson | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
- Silva was deducted 1 point in round 2 due to a groin strike.
Bonus awards
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[18]
- Fight of the Night: Cub Swanson vs. Billy Quarantillo
- Performance of the Night: Dustin Jacoby and Michael Johnson