| UFC on ESPN: Covington vs. Buckley | |
| Promotion: | Ultimate Fighting Championship |
| Venue: | Amalie Arena |
| City: | Tampa, Florida, United States |
| Previousevent: | UFC 310: Pantoja vs. Asakura |
| Followingevent: | UFC Fight Night 249 |
UFC on ESPN: Covington vs. Buckley (also known as UFC on ESPN 63) is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will take place on December 14, 2024, at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, United States.[1] [2]
The event will mark the promotion's fourth visit to Tampa and first since in October 2019.
A welterweight bout between Joaquin Buckley and Ian Machado Garry was expected to headline the event.[3] However, Garry was pulled to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 a week earlier and was replaced by former interim UFC Welterweight Champion Colby Covington.[4]
A bantamweight bout between Umar Nurmagomedov and Song Yadong was originally reported to headline the event.[5] However, the bout was scrapped due to Song being injured.[6]
A women's flyweight bout between Tracy Cortez and Miranda Maverick was originally scheduled to take place at in July, but Cortez was pulled from the contest in order to serve as a replacement against former two-time UFC Women's Strawweight Champion Rose Namajunas a week earlier at .[7] They were then expected to meet at this event.[8] However, Cortez was forced to withdraw due to health issues that required her to have surgery and was replaced by former LFA Women's Flyweight Champion Jamey-Lyn Horth.[9] [10]
A bantamweight bout between Said Nurmagomedov and Daniel Marcos was scheduled for this event.[11] However, Nurmagomedov withdrew from the fight for unknown reasons and was replaced by Adrian Yañez.[12]
A women's strawweight rematch between Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Ribas was scheduled for this event.[13] However, the bout was moved to January 11, 2025 to serve as the main event at UFC Fight Night 249.[14]