"He's going to do some nasty things" - Fighter sharing history with Colby Covington predicts UFC Tampa bout against "dark horse" Joaquin Buckley

Colby Covington could be in for quite the rough night against Joaquin Buckley at UFC Tampa according to a fighter who has called Covington out multiple times. Appearing on a recent episode of Bowks Talking Bouts, Michael Chiesa delved into several subjects before his next in-cage assignment.

One of the topics that 'Maverick' touched on included his past callouts of Covington to see who the best welterweight from the Pacific Northwest is. Alas, the two have not gotten into the cage with one another but interestingly enough, both will be fighting different adversaries this month.

Colby Covington is fighting Joaquin Buckley as mentioned and does so in the Dec. 14 UFC Fight Night headliner. Chiesa will test his skills with Max Griffin at UFC 310 this Saturday. Discussing the matchup machinations of the next Covington bout, Chiesa said:

"I think Buckley is like; he to me is the dark horse as the title contender. I think he's going to do some nasty things to Colby Covington. I think it's going to be really hard for Colby to implement that gamplan that he's so well known for, that pressure. That grappling heavy pressure. Buckley is short in stature which makes it a lot harder to get to his legs."

"He's got big power and he's very hungry. I think that's the biggest X factor in this fight with Colby is hunger. Like you can tell that Buckley is very hungry to get to the top of the heap and fight these guys. So I'm happy that he's getting his opportunity, man. I think Buckley's an incredible fighter and I'll enjoy watching him beat up Colby for sure."

Check out Michael Chiesa's thoughts on Covington vs. Buckley at UFC Tampa below(11:33):

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Colby Covington and the state of welterweight in December 2024

Colby Covington returns to the cage for the first time in a year since his loss to Leon Edwards on points at UFC 296. As much as people are intrigued to see the former interim UFC welterweight champion back in action, some are a bit confused as to why he's not fighting a week earlier at UFC 310.

Especially in the context of 170-pound titleholder Belal Muhammad withdrawing from his fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov due to injury, leaving a vacant spot to clash with the unbeaten and highly ranked Rakhmonov.

Rakhmonov himself claimed Covington was one of multiple fighters who turned down the chance to claim that vacancy left by Muhammad and stated this during an interview with Submission Radio.

Rakhmonov also claimed that fighters like Carlos Prates and Kamaru Usman also turned down bout offers. Ian Machado Garry ended up accepting the fight with the winner expected to face the returning champ Muhammad at an undetermined date and location.

That being said, the victor of Covington vs. Buckley would certainly be in prime placement for a future title shot someday.