UFC Tampa headliner Joaquin Buckley: Colby Covington's fake character 'has no value anymore'
TAMPA, Fla. – Joaquin Buckley sees right through Colby Covington’s gimmick entering their UFC on ESPN 63 main event clash.
Although Covington has downplayed knowledge of his opponent in Saturday’s welterweight headliner at Amalie Arena (ESPN2, ESPN+), Buckley said all of that is completely untrue after he’s had multiple interactions with “Chaos” in the past.
In fact, Buckley (21-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) said they’ve even shared the same training room at MMA Masters in Miami, which he believes makes Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) “nervous” going into their encounter this weekend. However, he doesn’t expect him to show that outwardly.
“Why you lying, Colby? That’s the funniest thing,” Buckley told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s UFC on ESPN 63 media day. “We’ve met each other before, and this will be our third time meeting each other again if we get to face off. I already met this guy, and I feel like the dude he portrays is obviously a character. Everybody knows it. It’s not a secret.
“Everybody knows he’s trying to do the WWE persona, and I feel like it got him very far and got him exactly where he needs to be, but now it’s getting kind of old. It has no value anymore. I feel like right now is a great opportunity to push this fight and push my name and push my brand.”
Buckley: Covington fight ‘way bigger’ than original UFC Tampa matchup
Buckley was originally scheduled to fight Ian Machado Garry at UFC on ESPN 63, but when Machado Garry was moved into the UFC 310 co-main event vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov, it was Covington who stepped in as the replacement.
Although he was keen to mix it up with Machado Garry, there’s a lot of upside to the Covington matchup that Buckley embraces.
“I wanted that fight,” Buckley said. “Of course, we was promoting Buck vs. Cuck, and that was going to be one of the biggest things around. But at the end of the day, I feel like me and Colby, that’s a big fight, too. He has won the interim title, he’s a person that has fought for the title three times, even though he lost. He’s got a big name. He has a big persona.
“He’s got big connections with the president (Donald Trump). I don’t know if the president is going to be there, but if someone like that is watching my fight, it’s a big deal. It’s historic. So with that being said, I feel like the Colby fight is way bigger than the Ian Garry fight.”
Buckley: Best version of Covington ‘no match for me’
Buckley is the betting favorite going into UFC on ESPN 63 after going on a 5-0 run since dropping to the welterweight division. There are many questions around Covington, who hasn’t competed since a December 2023 title-fight loss to Leon Edwards at UFC 296, which came on the heels of an almost two-year layoff.
At 36, many in the MMA community are looking at this fight as a gauge of what Covington has left in his career. And Buckley is ready to provide those answers.
“That’s up to him (to show what he has left),” Buckley said. “We can all judge off the last performance. Hhe wasn’t that good. I feel like the best performance I’ve seen from Colby Covington was against either RDA or Jorge Masvidal. That was his prime conditions where he was pushing the pace and showing his dominant style. But yet again, he said he took another year off to get back to the person he was, so I’m expecting the best version of Colby. But I feel like even the best version of Colby is no match for me.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 63.