Joaquin Buckley is favored against Colby Covington at UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Buckley on Saturday, December 14 in Tampa, Florida. This event is one of 13 fights on ESPN2, ESPNews, and ESPN+. Covington is 17-4 in his career, including 12-4 in the UFC, while Buckley is 20-6 in his career, including 10-4 in the UFC. There are a total of 13 fights, all on ESPN2, ESPNews, and ESPN+ at UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Buckley. Let’s look at the bout between Covington and Buckley and UFC predictions.
UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Buckley takes place at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida on Saturday, December 14 with 13 fights, all on ESPN2, ESPNews, and ESPN+.
UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Buckley Betting
Colby Covington (17-4, 12-4 UFC)
Covington came into the UFC with a record of 5-0 and he has 12 wins and four losses in the UFC. In his last six fights, he has three wins and three losses. He defeated Robbie Lawler by unanimous decision, Tyron Woodley by TKO, and Jorge Masvidal by unanimous decision; while losing to Kamaru Usman twice with once by TKO and once by unanimous decision, and Leon Edwards by unanimous decision. Covington has been a pro since 2012 and he has four wins by TKO/KO and four by submission. He has three first round finishes.
Joaquin Buckley (20-6, 10-4 UFC)
Buckley came into the UFC with a record of 10-2 and he has 10 wins and four losses in the UFC. In his last six fights, he has five wins and one loss. He defeated André Fialho by TKO, Alex Morono by unanimous decision, Vicente Luque by TKO, Nursulton Ruziboev by unanimous decision, and Stephen Thompson by KO; while losing to Chris Curtis by KO. Buckley has been a pro since 2014 and he has 14 wins by TKO/KO and six by decision. He has four first round finishes.
Buckley said this to si.com about his upcoming fight against Covington, “Put on a performance that I know I can put on Colby Covington. Going out there and dominating Colby Covington, he's still a high-level athlete. He's still a high-level fighter. To go out there and put him in a situation where he looks like an amateur, I think it's going to make it good for me to be fighting for that belt next, a dominant win; a dominant performance is going to put me in a position to get to that title. The next time I step into that cage again, after the Colby fight, I'm definitely expecting to have some gold around my waist.”
Michael Chiesa said this to sportskeeda.com about the upcoming fight between Covington and Buckley, “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 gameplan that he's so well known for, that pressure and 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.”
Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Covington 3.88 /Buckley 4.13
Striking Accuracy: Covington 38% /Buckley 36%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Covington 2.98/Buckley 3.20
Defense: Covington 55% /Buckley 57%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Covington 3.79/Buckley 1.96
Takedown Accuracy: Covington 44%/Buckley 46%
Takedowns defended: Covington 67%/Buckley 69%
Submission average: Covington 0.2/Buckley 0.0
UFC Picks
Buckley is listed as almost a 3-1 favorite in UFC betting odds to win this fight. Should Buckley really be listed as that big a favorite? Who has beaten to warrant that type of respect? So, he beat a washed-up Stephen Thompson last time out. That means nothing. Covington has faced far tougher opposition in his career and I know he has just two wins in his last five fights but there is no shame in losing twice to Kamaru Usman. I don’t take a lot of underdogs in UFC betting, but the picks have gone really well for the most part, so we can take a shot here to end the year. I think Covington can win this fight and we get a big plus price
DATE | FIGHTERS | MONEY LINE |
12/14 | Joaquin Buckley | -250 |
Colby Covington | +194 |
12/14 | Billy Quarantillo | -158 |
Cub Swanson | +126 |
12/14 | Dustin Jacoby | +218 |
Vitor Petrino | -285 |
12/14 | Daniel Marcos | -180 |
Adrian Yanez | +143 |
12/14 | Ottman Azaitar | +165 |
Michael Johnson | -210 |
12/14 | Drakkar Klose | +261 |
Joel Alvarez | -350 |
12/14 | Fernando Padilla | +139 |
Sean Woodson | -175 |
12/14 | Bruno Silva | +225 |
Manel Kape | -295 |
12/14 | Tuco Tokkos | +362 |
Navajo Stirling | -520 |
12/14 | Jamey-Lyn Horth | +252 |
Miranda Maverick | -337 |
12/14 | Ramon Taveras | -140 |
Davey Grant | +110 |
12/14 | Piera Rodriguez | +186 |
Josefine Knutsson | -240 |
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