The bout between Ian Machado Garry and Joaquin Buckley has been made official as the UFC Fight Night main event on December 14 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL. The pair squares off in a five-rounder at welterweight.
Garry (15-0) of Ireland makes his third Octagon appearance for the year. In his previous outing in June, the 26-year-old defeated Michael “Venom” Page by unanimous decision. In February, the No. 7-ranked contender took a split decision against Geoff Neal.
Riding a five-fight winning streak, No. 9 Buckley (20-6) targets his fourth victory for 2024. The St. Louis, Missouri native is fresh off the win by knockout in the third round against Stephen Thompson in October. Prior to that, the 30-year-old scored a unanimous decision against Nursulton Ruziboev, stopped Vicente Luque in the second round and earned a UD against Alex Morono.
The promotion confirmed the Garry vs Buckley showdown atop the UFC Tampa fight card on Saturday via post on X.
Among other recently confirmed matchups for the event, Michael Johnson (22-19) of St. Louis, Missouri faces German-Moroccan Ottman Azaitar (13-2) at lightweight. The current lineup looks as the following:
- Ian Machado Garry vs. Joaquin Buckley
- Manel Kape vs. Bruno Gustavo da Silva
- Amanda Ribas vs. Mackenzie Dern
- Cub Swanson vs. Billy Quarantillo
- Tracy Cortez vs. Miranda Maverick
- Navajo Stirling vs. Tuco Tokkos
- Joel Alvarez vs. Drakkar Klose
- Vitor Petrino vs. Dustin Jacoby
- Michael Johnson vs. Ottman Azaitar
- Josefine Lindgren Knutsson vs. Piera Rodriguez
- Davey Grant vs. Ramon Taveras
- Sean Woodson vs. Fernando Padilla
- Daniel Marcos vs. Adrian Yanez