UFC Fight Night: Covington vs Buckley featured a total of 13 bouts on December 14 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL. Seven of those fights ended by way of stoppage.
In the main event, Joaquin Buckley (21-6) of St. Louis, Missouri defeated Colby Covington (17-5) of Clovis, California via TKO. The welterweight bout was stopped at 4:42 into the third round on the advice of the physician due to a big cut over the former interim champion’s right eye.
With the victory, Buckley secured his sixth straight victory. Covington, who returned to action after a year of absence, suffered his second loss in a row.
In the co-main event, Cub Swanson (30-14) of Palm Springs, California knocked out Billy Quarantillo (18-7) of Ransomville, New York with punches in the third round at featherweight. Also on the main card, Angolan-born Portuguese Manel Kape (20-7) TKO’d Brazil’s Bruno Gustavo da Silva (14-6-2) with a flurry of punches in the third round at flyweight.
Plus, Dustin Jacoby (20-9-1) of Fort Morgan, Colorado KO’d Vitor Petrino (11-2) of Brazil with a big right hand in the third round at light heavyweight.
Among other UFC Tampa results, Michael Johnson (23-19) of St. Louis, Missouri eliminated German-Moroccan Ottman Azaitar (13-3) with big punches in the second round at lightweight. Also at lightweight, Joel Alvarez (22-3) of Spain knocked out Drakkar Klose (15-3-1) of Kalamazoo, Michigan in the first round with a flying knee and punches.
In addition, Sean Woodson (13-1-1) of St. Louis, Missouri dropped and stopped Mexico’s Fernando Padilla (16-6) with punches in the first round at featherweight.