UFC Tampa: Colby Covington vs. Joaquin Buckley - Fight card, date, start time, streaming, how to watch, venue, and more

Modified Dec 04, 2024 16:04 GMT

Colby Covington (left) will collide with Joaquin Buckley (right) in the main event of UFC Tampa [Image courtesy: UFC.com]

The UFC Tampa event is a Fight Night card, which will be headlined by a highly-anticipated welterweight showdown between Colby Covington and Joaquin Buckley. The card will also feature several other exciting fights.

Initially, a welterweight bout between undefeated Irishman Ian Machado Garry and Joaquin Buckley was to headline it. Meanwhile, UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad was scheduled to defend his belt against unbeaten Kazakh combatant Shavkat Rakhmonov in the headlining match of the UFC 310 (Dec. 7, 2024) event.

Nevertheless, Muhammad was afflicted by a bone infection in his left foot and withdrew in late October. Rakhmonov was left without an opponent, and UFC 310 had lost an important fight. The UFC then removed Garry from the Buckley matchup. They instead booked Garry to fight Rakhmonov in a co-headlining spot at UFC 310.

Moreover, former interim UFC welterweight champion Colby Covington agreed to step in and fight Joaquin Buckley. Ian Machado Garry, who's long been accusing Covington of evading him, reaffirmed his stance by jibing at 'Chaos' for agreeing to fight Buckley in that timeframe whilst allegedly continually ducking him.

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The Tampa event's co-headliner was to feature Amanda Ribas and Mackenzie Dern's rematch. However, per MMA Mania's Alex Behunin, the Ribas-Dern women's strawweight bout has reportedly been rescheduled to headline the UFC's first card of 2025, UFC Vegas 101 (Jan. 11, 2025).

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What time is Colby Covington vs. Joaquin Buckley?

For fans in the United States of America, the UFC Tampa event starts with the preliminary card at 7 pm ET / 4 pm PT on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. The main card will start at 10 pm ET / 7 pm PT.

For viewers in the United Kingdom, the UFC Tampa prelims start at 1 am BST on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. The main card commences at 4 am BST.

The start times for the prelims and main card are as follows:

Country	Prelims	Main card
U.S.A.	7 pm ET / 4 pm PT (Dec. 14)	10 pm ET / 7 pm PT (Dec. 14)
U.K.	1 am BST (Dec. 15)	4 am BST (Dec. 15)
U.A.E.	4 am GST (Dec. 15)	7 am GST (Dec. 15)
India	5:30 am IST (Dec. 15)	8:30 am IST (Dec. 15)
Brazil	9 pm BRT (Dec. 14)	12 am BRT (Dec. 15)
Australia	10 am AEST (Dec. 15)	1 pm AEST (Dec. 15)

How to watch Colby Covington vs. Joaquin Buckley?

Fans in the U.S. can watch the Covington-Buckley starring event's prelims live on ESPN2 and ESPN+. They can similarly watch the main card fights on ESPN2 and ESPN+.

Meanwhile, U.K. viewers can watch the event live on TNT Sports and Discovery+. Fans in India can watch the UFC Tampa fights live on the Sony Sports Network and the Sony Liv platform.

UFC Tampa: Covington vs. Buckley venue

The event is booked to go down at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, U.S.A. Incidentally, Florida happens to be the very state Colby Covington has long lived and trained in.

UFC Tampa full fight card

The card headlined by Covington vs. Buckley is the final UFC main roster event for the month of Dec. 2024. The fight cards are subject to change. The updated UFC Tampa card, with Cub Swanson and Billy Quarantillo potentially co-headlining, is as follows:

Main card