Joaquin Buckley didn’t get the finish he wanted but he still carved up Colby Covington in dominant fashion to win the UFC Tampa main event.
From the first minute until the last, Buckley dominated Covington on the feet, pummeling the veteran welterweight contender with devastating combinations throughout. An uppercut from the first round actually opened a nasty gash over Covington’s eye that just started pouring blood down his face and the cut only got worse with each punch landed.
By the time Buckley was blasting Covington with shots in the third round, referee Dan Miragliotta was forced to pause the contest to allow the doctor to assess the damage.
“He’s going to lose his eyelid,” the ringside physician told the Miragliotta, who waved off the fight with the end coming at 4:42 in the third round.
It wasn’t the exclamation point that Buckley wanted to leave on the main event but there was no doubt he was cruising to victory before the doctor saved Covington from further harm.
“I know ya’ll wanted to see a knockout. My bad,” Buckley said apologizing to the crowd.
Regardless how the fight ended, Buckley proved he now exists among the elite fighters at 170 pounds and he used his shutout performance to call on the crowd to pick his next opponent.
“Who do I want? My fans are going to pick my opponent,” Buckley said. “I’m going to give ya’ll three names. The one that ya’ll make the most noise for, that’s who I’m going to pick for my next opponent.
“First name right here — Leon Edwards? Second name, Kamaru Usman? And the last one: Take the throne from Belal Muhammad? I think it’s Kamaru Usman. Let’s go.”
It was a fast but measured start for Buckley as he set up his strikes and started cracking Covington with some stiff punches early. Buckley’s power was keeping Covington honest as the former interim welterweight champion was stuck on his backfoot for much of the opening round.
Buckley also shut down the takedown attempts along with a well-timed uppercut that opened a gruesome cut over Covington’s eye that had blood trickling down his face. The assault continued with Buckley really starting unload on Covington to the head and then digging to the body with a vicious right hook.
It wasn’t until two minutes into the second round when Covington finally produced some offense when he scored a takedown on Buckley against the cage. Covington maintained control for a few moments but Buckley eventually scrambled free to get back to his feet.
From there, Buckley unloaded a quick double jab that snapped Covington’s head back and seemingly deepened the cut over his eye. Buckley was just teeing off on Covington, who didn’t seem to have an answer for him on the feet.
Between rounds, the cutman tended to Covington’s eye but the gash was bleeding badly with the doctor telling Miragliotta that he probably shouldn’t let it go much further with that much damage done.
On the restart, Buckley continued to dish out punishment and the blood was just pouring down Covington’s face. It seemed like Buckley was potentially just moments away from a finish but the referee just couldn’t allow the action to continue without the doctor taking another look at Covington’s mangled eye.
It didn’t take long for the doctor to make the call and Miragliotta stopped the fight even as Covington seemingly protested.
The stoppage victory moves Buckley to 6-0 since moving to welterweight and it’s impossible to deny that he’s entering title contention with this latest performance.
As for Covington, the runner-up in so many title matches likely falls even further away from the top of the division with this latest setback. He’s now 2-4 in his past six fights and at 36 it’s tough to imagine another championship run before his career is over.
