Buckley dismantles Covington, forces 3rd-round stoppage at UFC Tampa

Joaquin Buckley bloodied Colby Covington early and poured on plenty of offense, forcing a doctor's stoppage to win via TKO at the 4:42 mark of the third round in Saturday's main event at UFC Tampa.

Buckley won his fourth fight of the year and is now 6-0 since dropping to welterweight in 2023. He's poised to catapult up the UFC rankings after entering the cage ninth in the division, three spots behind his opponent.

Covington lost his second straight bout, failing to recover from the decision loss to Leon Edwards in a championship setting one year ago. The 36-year-old is 2-4 over his last six fights, though three were for the welterweight title.

Buckley asserted himself early in Tampa, landing damaging blows on the feet and stuffing a pair of takedown attempts in the first round. He sent Covington to the canvas at the end of the frame and stepped over the veteran after the horn sounded.

The St. Louis native found success with body shots and head strikes over the 14-plus minutes and opened the cut on Covington more and more as the fight progressed.

Covington secured a takedown in the second round but couldn't inflict significant damage before Buckley got back to his feet. By the third round, the latter made it clear it would be his night.

Buckley called out Edwards, Kamaru Usman, and champion Belal Muhammad in his postfight interview.

He scored knockout victories this year over Covington, Stephen Thompson, and Vicente Luque. "New Mansa" also earned a decision over Nursulton Ruziboev.

UFC Tampa marked the promotion's final event for 2024. Covington stepped in on short notice after Buckley's original opponent - Ian Machado Garry - agreed to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov a week earlier at UFC 310.