UFC officials promised a memorable end-of-year walkout Saturday night (Dec. 14, 2024) at UFC Tampa LIVE on ESPN2/ESPN+ from inside Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., and it did not disappoint as Colby Covington was escorted to the Octagon by none other than Hulk Hogan. Covington was headlining the event in a five-round showdown with welterweight contender Joaquin Buckley.
Earlier this week, UFC commentator Brendan Fitzgerald teased a unique walkout for UFC Tampa’s main event and urged fight fans to catch every second of it. Some were left wondering if President-elect Donald Trump would make one more UFC event appearance and usher “Chaos” to the cage. It seemed unlikely, but nobody knew for sure what was going to happen during Covington’s final walkout of 2024.
“We always manage to top ourselves each year,” said Fitzgerald earlier this week. “For the first time in a while, I’m like ‘what are we going do in 2025 to outdo [UFC 300] and The Sphere?’ I don’t know. We’re going to try and I’m sure we’ll think of something …
“Don’t miss the Colby walkout. That’s all I’m going to say. It’s going to be a moment, going to be fun.”
To much surprise, Covington was joined by Hogan and even came out to Hogan’s legendary WWE theme song. Whether you like Covington or not, this was a pretty epic moment to close out the last show of the year. Covington has walked out to Kurt Angle’s “You Suck” theme song before, but coming to the Octagon with Hulk Hogan by his side is on an entirely new level.
Check out the epic walkout in the above video player and more footage below:
Hulk Hogan walks out Colby Covington. #UFCTampa pic.twitter.com/KQpF7qu3nY
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) December 15, 2024
A TRIO YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU NEEDED
An epic walk out for @ColbyCovMMA!#UFCTampa | @HulkHogan | @ChaelSonnen | @WWE pic.twitter.com/Ke2topWpC2
— UFC (@ufc) December 15, 2024
For complete UFC Tampa results, coverage, and highlights, click HERE.