Last Saturday in the main event of UFC Tampa, Joaquin Buckley extended his win streak to six in a row after finishing off the returning Colby Covington.
After being out of action for almost a year, Colby Covington bided his time and returned at what he thought was a perfect time.
With the welterweight division currently lacking any immediate contenders outside of Shavkat Rakhmonov, Covington believed he could put himself back into title contention with a win over Joaquin Buckley.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Colby Covington suffers a doctor stoppage loss to Joaquin Buckley
The main event started in rather bizarre fashion, with Covington being sent packing by WWE legend Hulk Hogan, after teasing all week that his stoppage would be historic.
Things then got progressively worse for the former interim welterweight champion as he was caught early in the fight with a sharp uppercut that left a gash under his eyebrow.
'Chaos' fought on for two more rounds but was unable to execute his controversial wrestling-related game plan, finding himself plastered around the Octagon by 'New Mansa's powerful and fast attack.
The cut under Covington's eye continued to worsen, and before the third round started, he was warned by the doctor that she wouldn't let it last much longer, and told him to protect the eye.
Towards the end of the third round, after a brief scramble to the ground, the 36-year-old appeared to be oozing quite badly from his eye, causing the referee to stop the action and bring in the doctor to check it out.
After a brief check-up, the doctor declared Covington unable to continue, causing him to suffer back-to-back losses for the first time in his 12-year professional career.
Joaquin Buckley lets fans decide his next opponent in tough promo
This is the biggest win of Buckley's career to date, with him now potentially moving into the top five of the welterweight division.
Buckley is now on a six-fight winning streak and believes he is ready for a number one fight, or possibly he hopes to skip the line straight to Belal Muhammad.
During his Octagon interview, the 31-year-old gave fans the chance to choose his next opponent, giving them three options.
“Since everyone's leaving, it's a damn shame because the fans are going to pick my damn opponent next,” he began to explain.
“The fans are going to choose my opponent, okay. So I'm going to give you three names, okay, the one you're all making the most noise for, that's who I'm going to choose as my next opponent.
“First name here, Leon Edwards,” as the fans cheered softly.
“Middle name, Kamaru Usman!” Buckley shouted as the cheering grew louder.
“And the last one, take the throne from Belal Muhammad, which one, let's go?” as the cheers returned to a mild tone.
“I think it's Kamaru Usman, honey, let's go,” Buckley concluded.
Kamaru Usman is currently weighing his options regarding a return, having stated that he wants to return to welterweight following a fight against Khamzat Chimaev at middleweight.
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