Matches To Make After UFC Tampa

UFC Tampa went down last night (Sat., Dec. 14, 2024) inside Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., featuring a Welterweight fight that saw Joaquin Buckley bust up Colby Covington to force a doctor’s stoppage (see it again here). In the co-main event, Cub Swanson secured a blistering knockout performance over Billy Quarantillo (highlights), while Manel Kape stopped Bruno Silva via technical knockout in round three.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Winner: Joaquin Buckley
Who He Should Face Next: Kamaru Usman

Buckley was supposed to face Ian Garry at this event, but since “The Future” just suffered the first loss of his career at the hands of Shavkat Rakhmonov, that fight can be tabled for another time. Buckley should be aiming a bit higher up the pecking order now that he has won six straight — four in 2024 — and a fight against former 170-pound champion, Kamaru Usman, seems to fit the bill. I normally don’t like pairing up a streaking fighter against one on a bad losing streak (Usman has lost three straight), but “Nigerian Nightmare” is still holding on to the No. 3 spot at 170 pounds, so if Buckley wants that spot, he is going to have to take it.

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Winner: Cub Swanson
Who He Should Face Next: Jose Aldo (if he doesn’t retire)

Swanson didn’t commit to retiring following his knockout win over Quarantillo, but it sure did look as if that is where he is leaning. If he decides to stick around, there aren’t a whole lot of nice options for a long-time veteran who has one foot out the door. That said, at this point in both of their careers, I wouldn’t mind seeing Aldo and Swanson run it back. The two men initially threw down at WEC 41 in 2009, with Aldo scoring an eight-second flying knee knockout win. While it was a great finish, we were robbed of what could have been an epic fight. Granted, that was 15 years ago and if they fought now it wouldn’t be two prime fighters, but for old time’s sake it would be fun to see.

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Winner: Manel Kape
Who He Should Face Next: Kai Kara-France

Kape was on point last night with his striking, dominating Silva before stopping him in the final round via technical knockout. Kape improved to 5-1 in his last six fights and will take a huge leap in the rankings. I am feeling a fight between Kape and Kara-France, who were originally set to fight at UFC 293 last year before the Kiwi had to bow out of the fight with an injury. Kara-France is coming off a first round technical knockout win over former title challenger, Steve Erceg.

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Winner: Dustin Jacoby
Who He Should Face Next: Ryan Spann

Jacoby earned a new lease on his combat life by snapping his two-fight losing streak with an impressive knockout win over Vitor Petrino. The two men were going at it for 12 minutes before Jacoby landed a nice shot right on his foe’s jaw that earned him the win (see it here). It was much-needed because Jacoby was losing the fight up to that point. As for what’s next for him, perhaps a showdown against Ryan Spann is in order. “Superman” recently snapped his three-fight losing streak by defeating former title contender, Ovince Saint Preux, this past October.

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Winner: Daniel Marcos
Who He Should Face Next: Nurmagomedov vs. Oliveira winner

Marcos improved to 17-0-1, 4-0-1 UFC, by defeating a game Adrian Yanez after 15 minutes of action. “Soncora” was initially scheduled to face Nurmagomedov at this event before he withdrew for undisclosed reasons. Said seems to have all of his ducks in a row following his withdrawal because he is set to face Vinicius Oliveira on Feb. 1, 2025. That said, giving Marcos the winner of the fight seems like a good option.

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For complete UFC Tampa results, coverage and highlights click HERE.