The welterweight division experienced a bit of conundrum when Belal Muhammad pulled out of his scheduled bout against Shavkat Rakhmonov for UFC 310. Many top welterweights threw in their names as replacements for ‘Remember the Name’, while ‘Nomad’ expressed his interest in fighting former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman for an interim title. Other fighters who threw their names into the mix were Colby Covington, Ian Garry, and Joaquin Buckley. Ian Garry was initially booked against Joaquin Buckley for this December’s UFC Tampa main event.

However, now it seems like the UFC decided to book Ian Garry against Shavkat Rakhmonov instead of Kamaru Usman. Garry repeatedly expressed interest in fighting Rakhmonov, and said this after his UFC 303 win – “There’s Shavkat [Rakhmonov], 18-0. I’d love to get my hands on him. I’ve nothing but respect for him, but I wanna be the guy to take his 0, and I know I can do it”. It seems like ‘The Future’ got his wish, but where does that leave Joaquin Buckley? According to news reports, ‘New Mansa’ has been booked against the brash Colby ‘Chaos’ Covington for UFC Tampa. The booking had the former two-weight champion Henry Cejudo super excited, with ‘Triple C’ giving his predictions on the outcome.

Henry Cejudo feels Joaquin Buckley will win his fight against Colby Covington

Colby Covington will return to the Octagon almost a year after his title fight loss to Leon Edwards at UFC 296 against Joaquin Buckley, and Henry Cejudo is all here for it. On the ‘Pound 4 Pound’ podcast with Kamaru Usman, ‘Triple C’ did not seem confident of Covington’s victory against Buckley.

“The style of Colby Covington that dude is so predictable now. And the fact that they’ve seen him lose time and time again, whether it’s with Leon Edwards or yourself, like it’s there. Once you stop Colby takedowns dude things will fall into place. And look at how Joaquin covers distance bro. I’m high on this kid. This kid is dangerous, Kamaru. I can see Colby Covington losing via stoppage man to a guy like Joaquin Buckley. I truly do believe that.”, Henry Cejudo told Kamaru Usman.

On the other hand, Cejudo praised Joaquin Buckley’s skills – “The dude is vicious, he’s explosive. He’s been able to cover the distance, and not just that—he’s training with Nick Simmons, who also had a chance to coach Colby Covington, too.” It was later revealed that Nick Simmons is, in fact, not Joaquin Buckley’s wrestling coach, after Kamaru Usman called Cejudo out on the mistake. If what Cejudo said was true, that would truly be a nightmare scenario for Covington, as his previous coach could spill all the secrets on him to his opponent. Regardless, ‘Chaos’ has his hands full with an opponent like ‘New Mansa’.

Colby Covington‘s last win was via unanimous decision in 2022, over a ‘past his prime’ Jorge Masvidal. At 36, Covington is also entering the twilight years of his MMA career. On the other hand, the 30-year-old Joaquin Buckley is undefeated in five fights after making welterweight his home. In his last fight, he beat the veteran Stephen Thompson, by knocking him out viciously in the third round of their bout at UFC 307. Not just Henry Cejudo, but UFC head honcho Dana White is also all in for Joaquin Buckley vs. Colby Covington..

Dana White has high hopes for Joaquin Buckley vs Colby Covington

The current welterweight champion got sidelined due to a bone infection in his foot as a result of a nasty staph infection, requiring intravenous antibiotics and six weeks of rest without physical activity. Belal Muhammad expressed his disappointment in a heartfelt social media post, apologizing to fans and vowing to return stronger. The cancellation adds uncertainty to the welterweight division, but Muhammad’s recovery remains the top priority as the champion looks forward to a comeback in 2025.

In his absence, the UFC head honcho was able to rope in multiple fighters and put forth exciting matchups. The fight that White looks forward to the most is the clash between Buckley and Covington. During the announcement of the fight card, White said, “Buckley is on a five-fight win streak with three of those coming by finish. In his last fight, he won ‘Performance of the Night’ with a nasty KO over ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson. Both guys love to talk and I expect this to be a war.” With all these changes, UFC Tampa is shaping up to be yet another banger of a card. With outstanding fight cards in the pipeline, December looks like an incredible month to close out a great year of fight cards in 2024.

What do you think of the match-up between Colby Covington and Joaquin Buckley? Do you agree with Henry Cejudo’s predictions for that fight? Sounds off in the comments below.