Covington vs Buckley

Who won Covington vs Buckley?

Joaquin Buckley beat Colby Covington by knockout in the 3rd round during the main event of UFC Fight Night, on Saturday 14th December 2024 at Amalie Arena in Tampa.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Welterweight division, which meant the weight limit was 170 pounds (12.1 stone or 77.1 KG).

Covington vs Buckley stats

Colby Covington stepped into the octagon with a record of 17 wins, 4 losses and 0 draws, 4 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 4 by submission.

Joaquin Buckley made his way to the cage with a record of 20 wins, 6 losses and 0 draws, 14 of those wins coming by knock out.

This was Colby Covington's 17th fight in the UFC, having made his debut for the promotion in 2014. Joaquin Buckley marked his 15th fight for them, having made his own debut for the promotion in 2020.

Colby Covington's UFC record stood at 12-5-0, while Joaquin Buckley's came in at 11-4-0.

The stats suggested Buckley had a massive power advantage over Covington, boasting a 70% knock out percentage over Covington's 24%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Covington had a large advantage over Buckley, boasting a 24% submission rate over Buckley's 0%.

Colby Covington was the older man by 7 years, at 37 years old.

Covington had a height advantage of 1 inch over Buckley. Despite this, Buckley had a 4-inch reach advantage.

Covington was arguably the more experienced fighter, having had 5 fewer fights, and made his debut in 2012, 2 years and 7 months earlier than Buckley, whose first professional fight was in 2014. He had fought 10 more professional rounds, 71 to Buckley's 61.

Covington vs Buckley form

Covington had beaten 2 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going to the judges once.

In his last fight before this contest, he had lost to Leon Edwards at UFC 296 on 16th December 2023 by unanimous decision in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272 on 5th March 2022 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Kamaru Usman at UFC 268 on 6th November 2021 by unanimous decision in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at Madison Square Garden, New York City.

Before that, he had beaten Tyron Woodley at UFC Vegas 11 on 19th September 2020 by knockout in the 5th round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

He had been defeated by Kamaru Usman at UFC 245 on 14th December 2019 by knockout in the 5th round in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

Buckley had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going the distance once.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had defeated Alex Morono at UFC Fight Night – Green vs Dawson on 7th October 2023 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at UFC Apex, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he was victorious against Andre Fialho at UFC Fight Night – Pennington vs. Aldana 2 on 20th May 2023 by knockout in the 2nd round at UFC Apex, Las Vegas.

Going into that contest, he had lost to Chris Curtis at UFC 282 on 10th December 2022 by knockout in the 2nd round at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

Before that, he had been beaten by Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Fight Night Paris on 3rd September 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Accor Arena, Paris, France.

He had won against Albert Duraev at UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Emmett on 18th June 2022 by knockout in the 3rd round at Moody Center, Austin, United States.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Joaquin Buckley had been fighting more than Colby Covington.

Going to this contest, Colby Covington had last fought 1 year, 3 months and 12 days ago, while Joaquin Buckley's last outing had been 1 year, 5 months and 21 days ago.

Covington's last 5 fights had come over a period of 5 years, 3 months and 14 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year and 21 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 25 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 5 rounds on average.

Buckley's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 9 months and 10 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 6 months and 21 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 13 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.6 rounds on average.

What time did Covington vs Buckley start?

The fighters were expected to walk out at around 5:40 AM UTC , which was 12:40 AM EST or 9:40 PM PST on the West Coast of America, or 5:40 AM GMT in the UK.

What were the odds on Covington vs Buckley?

Colby Covington was a 2/1 (+200) underdog going into the contest, while Joaquin Buckley made his way into the ring at 2/5 (-250) with oddsmakers.