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Andreas Hale, ESPN
The UFC will end the calendar year with a bang as welterweights Ian Machado Garry and Joaquin Buckley will headline UFC Fight Night on Dec. 14th at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
The announcement for a fight between surging welterweights comes a day after welterweight champion Belal Muhammad was forced to pull out of his first title defense with the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 on Dec. 7 in Las Vegas. There has been no announcement regarding whether the UFC will keep Rakhmonov on the card. The news that Buckley and Garry will square off a week later removes the possibility of either fighter stepping in to face Rakhmonov in a potential interim title bout.
Garry (15-0) is ranked as the No. 7 welterweight by the UFC. Fighting out of Dublin, Ireland, Garry is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Michael “Venom” Page in his last outing at UFC 303. Garry has been calling for a fight against Rakhmonov, but it appears that the UFC will keep the unbeaten fighters away from each other a bit longer.
Buckley (20-6) is currently ranked as the No. 9 welterweight by the UFC. He has won five consecutive fights since returning to the 170-pound weight class in May 2023. Fighting out of St. Louis, Missouri, Buckley put a definitive stamp on his contender status with a knockout win over former title challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson at UFC 307 in October.