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Colby Covington is back.
The former interim welterweight champion makes his first appearance in 2024 when he battles Joaquin Buckley in the new UFC Tampa main event on Dec. 14.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the pairing after Buckley’s original opponent Ian Machado Garry was pulled from the card to face Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 instead.
Covington returns after suffering a decision loss to Leon Edwards back in December 2023 in a third failed attempt at becoming undisputed welterweight champion. Prior to that loss, Covington had defeated former friend and teammate Jorge Masvidal to earn the title shot.
Overall, Covington is 3-3 in his past six fights but he’ll look to improve his record when he makes his return in December.
As for Buckley, the boisterous welterweight contender has been nothing but impressive since moving to 170 pounds. He’s currently 5-0 since moving to welterweight including stoppage wins over Vicente Luque and two-time UFC title challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.
Buckley had been calling for the chance to face a higher ranked or bigger named named opponent and now he’ll get his wish with the main event booked against Covington.
UFC Tampa goes down on Dec. 14 from the Amalie Arena with a full card and bout order still to be announced.