[autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] said he was going to call Hunter Campbell on Monday to ask for a fight against [autotag]Shavkat Rakhmonov[/autotag].
It appears the promotion had other plans. Instead, Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) will face [autotag]Joaquin Buckley[/autotag] (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 [autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag], 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.
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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