Colby Covington, UFC on ESPN 5 Weigh-In Credit score: Jay Anderson/Cageside Press
The UFC wraps up its 2024 calendar yr on Saturday with UFC Tampa: Covington vs. Buckley, with the cardboard’s official (and ceremonial) weigh-ins going down as at all times a day prior.
The cardboard’s most important occasion underwent a shift when Ian Machado Garry opted to drop out of his battle with Joaquin Buckley to face Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 in a welterweight title eliminator. That opened the door for the return of Colby “Chaos” Covington, competing for the primary time in a yr, and since a loss to Leon Edwards for the promotion’s welterweight title.
Regardless of reaching a substantial quantity of notoriety due to his adoption of a pro-wrestling type heel persona dripping with MAGA-style speaking factors, Covington’s absence hasn’t actually been felt at a time when the welterweight division’s new breed has been on hearth. Rakhmonov, Garry, and Jack Della Maddalena are the way forward for the division, and all three have been checked out as future champions. Covington, whose consistency has been missing (Saturday will mark simply 5 fights prior to now 5 calendar years) was liable to dropping what little relevance he nonetheless had, had been he to not return now. And a win is equally necessary for the 36-year outdated.
Joaquin Buckley, at 30, is perhaps a reputation that joins these aforementioned new stars shortly. Whereas his star hit the best heights in 2020 with a Knockout of the 12 months end of Impa Kasanganay, he struggled with prime competitors at middleweight, falling to Nassourdine Imavov and Chris Curtis. A transfer all the way down to welterweight in 2023, nonetheless, has resulted in 5 straight wins, together with the likes of Vicente Luque and ex-title challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. A victory in opposition to Covington, a former interim champ, would land Buckley, ranked #9 to Covington’s #6, at the least on the outskirts of the title image.
Weigh-ins for UFC Tampa get underway at 9PM ET, 6PM PT on Friday, December 13, 2024. Full outcomes will be discovered beneath.
UFC Tampa: Covington vs. Buckley Weigh-In Outcomes
Essential card
Welterweight: Colby Covington vs. Joaquin BuckleyFeatherweight: Cub Swanson vs. Billy QuarantilloFlyweight: Manel Kape vs. Bruno Gustavo da SilvaLight Heavyweight: Vitor Petrino vs. Dustin JacobyBantamweight: Adrian Yañez vs. Daniel MarcosLight Heavyweight: Navajo Stirling vs. Tuco Tokkos
Preliminary card
Light-weight: Michael Johnson vs. Ottman AzaitarLightweight: Joel Álvarez vs. Drakkar KloseFeatherweight: Sean Woodson vs. Fernando PadillaFeatherweight: Miles Johns vs. Felipe LimaWomen’s Flyweight: Miranda Maverick vs. Jamey-Lyn HorthBantamweight: Davey Grant vs. Ramon TaverasWomen’s Strawweight: Josefine Lindgren Knutsson vs. Piera Rodriguez
