The final card for the 2024 UFC has been finalized. On Friday night, the promotion announced an intriguing welterweight pitting No. 7 Ian Machado Garry against No. 9 Joaquin Buckley.
That fight will serve as the main event for the Tampa card on December 14. Both Garry and Buckley had campaigned to replace the injured Belal Muhammad on the UFC 310 card on December 7. However, the UFC had other plans.
Muhammad was set to make the first defense of his UFC welterweight championship against No. 3 Shavkhat Rakmonov.
The UFC is still searching for a replacement, as that fight was supposed to be the main event. If the promotion cannot find a replacement, the UFC men’s flyweight championship between champion Alexandre Pantoja and newcomer Kai Asakura would be elevated from co-main event to main event.
The Garry-Buckley clash is between two of the fastest-rising contenders in the welterweight division. Garry is undefeated at 15-0 overall and 8-0 in the UFC. Most recently, Garry won a unanimous decision over Michael Venom Page in June, a split-decision win over Geoff Neal in February, and a dominant unanimous decision victory over Neil Magny in August 2023.
Garry hasn’t been finishing opponents in his last few fights, which could have impacted his rise. Had he stopped Page or Neal, Garry might have vaulted himself into the Top 5.
The 26-year-old is still in a great position to challenge for a title in 2025 if he keeps winning.
Buckley has been a workhorse for the UFC since he signed in 2020. In 4.5 years with the UFC, Buckley has already fought a whopping 14 times with the promotion. Buckley owns a 10-4 record with the UFC, including victories over Stephen Thompson, Nursulton Ruziboev, Vicente Luque, and Alex Morono.
Buckley will come into the matchup with Garry on a five-fight win streak and looking to make a meteoric rise to a title shot.
Here is a look at the entire card.
- Ian Machado Garry vs. Joaquin Buckley (170 lbs)
- Amanda Ribas vs. Mackenzie Dern (115 lbs)
- Dustin Jacoby vs. Vitor Petrino (205 lbs)
- Tracy Cortez vs. Miranda Maverick (125 lbs)
- Manel Kape vs. Bruno Silva (125 lbs)
- Cub Swanson vs. Billy Quarantillo (145 lbs)
- Michael Johnson vs. Ottman Azaitar (155 lbs)
- Said Nurmagomedov vs. Daniel Marcos (135 lbs)
- Piera Rodriguez vs. Josefine Knutsson (115 lbs)
- Navajo Stirling vs. Tuco Tokkos (205 lbs)
- Davey Grant vs. Ramon Taveras (135 lbs)
- Drakkar Klose vs. Joel Alvarez (155 lbs)
- Sean Woodson vs. Fernando Padilla (145 lbs)
While it hasn’t been announced, it appears the Dern vs. Ribas fight will be the co-main event. This fight is a rematch, with Dern winning initially. Ribas will be looking to turn things around.
Dern is ranked No. 6, and Ribas sits at No. 8 in the UFC women’s flyweight division. There are seven ranked fighters set for action in Tampa, as it appears the UFC plan is to end the year with a bang.
