Joaquin Buckley closed the 2024 UFC schedule with a victory by way of third-round technical knockout against former interim welterweight champion Colby Covington on Saturday at UFC Fight Night in Tampa, Fla.
Buckley (21-6-0) took the fight at 4:42 of the third round and improved to 4-0 this year, dominating Covington in all aspects of the bout. He nearly ended the fight in Round 1 with a TKO, almost getting a triangle-choke submission before the stoppage.
Buckley, a winner of six straight fights, called for three former or current champions as potential options for his next opponent: Leon Edwards, Kamaru Usman and current titleholder Belal Muhammad.
Based on fan reactions, Buckley said he prefers to fight Usman.
“I think it’s Kamaru Usman, baby,” Buckley said. “Let’s go.”
Covington has not earned a victory in the octagon since March 5, 2022, having lost three of his past four outings to drop to 17-5-0.
The co-main event saw UFC veteran Cub Swanson (30-14-0) land 99 significant strikes to knock out Billy Quarantillo in the third round of a featherweight bout. Swanson said post-fight that he was thinking about retirement but wants to weigh his options. Quarantillo (18-7-0) has lost three of his past four fights.
Manel Kape (20-7-0) stayed in flyweight title contention with a TKO victory against Bruno Gustavo da Silva (14-6-2) at the 1:57 mark of Round 3. It was Silva’s first loss since October 2020, as he had won four straight affairs.
Light heavyweight Dustin Jacoby (20-9-1) rallied to knock out Vitor Petrino (11-2-0) in the third round. Jacoby’s right cross sent Petrino crashing to the canvas, earning the former his first win since August 2023 and snapping a two-fight skid.
A closely contested bantamweight fight saw Daniel Marcos (17-0-0) remain unbeaten with a split decision against Adrian Yanez (17-6-0).
Light heavyweights Navajo Stirling (6-0-0) and Tuco Tokkos (10-5-0) opened the main card, and Stirling earned a win by unanimous decision in his UFC debut. He took the cards 30-27, 30-27, 30-27.
–Field Level Media
