It’s been a chaotic few weeks for the welterweight division after champion Belal Muhammad was booked against Shavkat Rakhmonov in his first title defense, shortly before being forced to withdraw from UFC 310 with an injury.
As soon as news of Belal Muhammad’s injury hit the airwaves, a host of top welterweight contenders raised their hand as potential replacements for the undefeated ‘Nomad’ – less than 48 hours later, the UFC has opted to book two of them against each other.
Ian Machado Garry vs Joaquin Buckley booked for UFC Tampa main event
Following the UFC 310 main event falling through, several top welterweights offered to step in on short notice against Rakhmonov, including former champion Kamaru Usman as well as rising contenders Ian Machado Garry and Joaquin Buckley.
After Garry posted a video of him calling for an interim title fight against the undefeated Kazakh, Buckley would fire back with a video of his own in which he claimed that “Nobody wants to see that fight.
“People wanna see knockouts, people wanna see finishes and that’s exactly what I bring.”
Well, it seems that the UFC was interested in both Garry and Buckley’s callouts… Just not in regard to the UFC 310 PPV main event.
Only a few hours ago, the promotion confirmed that Ian Machado Garry will fight Joaquin Buckley in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card in Tampa, Florida, on December 14.
UFC fans have reacted positively to the fight announcement, with some of the top comments reading “This is a banger,” “Finally a good fight with 2 prospects,” “What a bloodbath wow, fun ass fight,” and “Should be a fun scrap.”
- UFC 310: Conor McGregor calls for Muhammad to be ‘stripped instantly’ as feud heats up after withdrawal
At the time of writing, Garry is the #7 ranked welterweight in the world, with Buckley retaining the #9 spot – ‘New Mansa’ has also shared an old video of Garry stating that he’d never fight down the rankings.
Interestingly, the official UFC announcement article did tease that this could be a No. 1 contender’s fight by the time that Rakhmonov vs Muhammad is re-booked for early 2025: “Machado Garry and Buckley could put themselves on the inside track to make their own title bid at some point next year.”
UFC Tampa card takes shape with eight fights officially announced
As per the official event page, UFC Tampa now has nine fights officially confirmed.
- Ian Machado Garry vs Joaquin Buckley
- Amanda Ribas vs Mackenzie Dern
- Cub Swanson vs Billy Quarantillo
- Tracy Cortez vs Miranda Maverick
- Michael Johnson vs Ottman Azaitar
- Joel Alvarez vs Drakkar Klose
- Vitor Petrino vs Dusin Jacoby
- Manel Kape vs Bruno Silva
- Navajo Stirling vs Tuco Tokkos
Tapology also reports that a further four fights will feature at UFC Tampa but are currently absent from the official listing.
- Daniel Marcos vs Adrian Yanez
- Peira Rodriguez vs Josefine Knutsson
- Davey Grant vs Ramon Taveras
- Sean Woodson vs Fernando Padilla
UFC Tampa goes down on December 14 from the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.