Colby Covington said he was going to call Hunter Campbell on Monday to ask for a fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov.
It appears the promotion had other plans. Instead, Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) will face Joaquin Buckley (20-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) in a five-round welterweight UFC on ESPN 63 headliner Dec. 14 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., promotion CEO Dana White announced Saturday.
Covington, 36, replaces Ian Machado Garry, who slides back a week to face Rakhmonov after champion Belal Muhammad pulled out. Covington most recently competed in a failed title bid vs. Leon Edwards in December. He lost by unanimous decision. It was the third time Covington had challenged for the title and came up short. He’s 1-2 in his most recent three.
Buckley, 30, seeks his sixth-straight victory in what will be his first promotional main event. He most recently competed in October when he knocked out Stephen Thompson.
With the addition, the UFC on ESPN 63 lineup includes:
- Joaquin Buckley vs. Colby Covington
- Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas
- Dustin Jacoby vs. Vitor Petrino
- Jamey-Lyn Horth vs. Miranda Maverick
- Joel Alvarez vs. Drakkar Klose
- Josefine Knutsson vs. Piera Rodriguez
- Navajo Stirling vs. Tuco Tokkos
- Davey Grant vs. Ramon Taveras
- Manel Kape vs. Bruno Silva
- Ottman Azaitar vs. Michael Johnson
- Daniel Marcos vs. Adrian Yanez
- Fernando Padilla vs. Sean Woodson
- Miles Johns vs. Felipe Lima