Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Live Winners and Losers from UFC on ESPN 63, Results

Lyle Fitzsimmons

Just when you thought it was safe, Colby Covington was back.

The UFC's domestic lightning rod was in fighting mode for the first time in 2024, almost a year to the day he was beaten by Leon Edwards in a try for the welterweight title last December.

He faced a streaking contender at 170 pounds this time around in the form of Joaquin Buckley, who'd won five straight to climb to ninth in the rankings, three spots below Covington at No. 6.

They headlined a 13-bout Fight Night show at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. and B/R was in the house to compile a definitive, real-time list of the show's winners and losers.

Drop a thought in the app comments and let us know what you think about what we came up with.

Winner: Bloody Sunday

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The fight wasn't exactly beaten out of Colby Covington early Sunday morning.

But it certainly bled out of him.

The polarizing contender and three-time failed welterweight title challenger wore the ghastly evidence of nearly three full rounds of punishment doled out by ninth-ranked Joaquin Buckley before their main event was stopped upon doctor's advice with 18 seconds remaining.

The fight topped a 13-bout card and got underway at 1:01 a.m. ET.

Covington, who'd not fought since losing to Leon Edwards in his third title try last December, emerged from a stuffed takedown attempt in the first round against Buckley with a jagged cut over his right eye that instantly became a point of concern as he continually poked and wiped at it.

The continuous blood flow allowed Buckley to land intermittently hard shots, though he never put together a consequential flurry and Covington succeeded with a takedown try in the second round and kept him down for nearly two full minutes.

Covington went to the mat after taking another handful of punches in the third and when the fighters emerged from a tie-up along the fence, referee Dan Miragliotta intervened and summoned the same physician who'd checked Covington on his stool after the first and second rounds. She immediately shook her head upon examining the eye again and Miragliotta waved it off for good at 4:42 of the third.

It was Buckley's sixth straight win and prompted a post-fight interaction with the crowd in which he asked them to choose his next opponent based on the volume of their reactions. He suggested former champs Edwards and Kamaru Usman alongside current champ Belal Muhammad, and Usman, who was seated at cage-side, appeared to win the popularity contest.

"I think it's Kamaru Usman baby," he said, "let's go."

Covington, who'd entered the cage to Hulk Hogan's old "Real American" theme song, left after the fight without a comment.

Winner: Working the Room

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Cub Swanson, in the grand UFC scheme of things, is a pretty popular fighter.

Fans particularly like his rugged style, his blunt manner and his tattoo-blanketed body.

But he was most certainly the villain when he met Tampa resident and fan favorite Billy Quarantillo in the co-main event, and the 41-year-old basked in the role as he finished his foe with a single right hand and strutted around the cage as physicians rushed in to tend to the beaten man.

Then, just as quickly as he'd become the heel, Swanson swerved to babyface.

"It takes two to tango and I've got to give it up for the hometown guy," he said, "who was so willing to throw down."

The crowd cheered and "Killer Cub" kept going, suggesting retirement could be imminent and drawing even more support to convince him to stay.

Swanson's win was his 30th as a pro and 15th in the UFC since he arrived in 2011.

"I told my wife that this might be the last one, so we'll see," he said. "I'm kind of old, and I appreciate you letting a 40-year-old guy come out and entertain you."

Loser: Maddening the Masses

Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Sometimes the crowd likes a street brawl. And sometimes passions can be aroused simply if the fighter they've decided not to like finds himself in severe difficulty.

That was the case in Saturday's 11th bout, when Brazilian flyweight Bruno Silva earned the collective enmity of the Tampa crowd with three groin strikes against Manel Kape that prompted several minutes in delays and ultimately a point deduction from referee Keith Peterson.

The repeated fouls prompted a "F--k you, Silva" chant that rang across the building and seemed to further fuel Kape, who was clearly in a free-flow state inside the cage.

So, when the sixth-ranked contender opened the third round with a rally that did even more damage to Silva's already bloodied face, then hurt his foe to the body to trigger a 12-shot volley that drove Silva to his knees and ultimately ended the fight, they were positively giddy.

And when Kape grabbed the mic afterward and demanded a title shot, the volume reached 11.

"I'm the next against Pantoja," Kape shouted toward UFC boss Dana White. "I'm the new pay-per-view star at flyweight. No one is like me. I'm the best."

Winner: Patient Punishment

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Do what you like, but don't call Dustin Jacoby boring.

The 36-year-old has had an anonymous UFC career since arriving to the promotion after a successful run on Dana White's Contender Series in 2020, and he'd fallen on particularly hard times recently with four losses in five fights since the fall of 2022.

He seemed on the way to yet another L after two sleepy rounds against Brazilian slugger Vitor Petrino on Saturday's main card, right up until the moment the opportunity to employ pre-fight strategy presented itself.

"I heard you guys booing but the game plan was to stay patient," Jacoby said. "I wanted it to be on my time, and when I was gonna get him I knew I'd get him."

And yes, he got him.

Jacoby lurched as if to throw a jab but instead came across with a hard, straight right that landed squarely on Petrino's jaw, sending him face-first to the floor and leaving him open for the one ground strike that Jacoby managed before referee Andrew Glenn intervened.

The official time was 3:44 of Round 3.

"I stayed locked in. I was locked into myself and we got this s--t done," Jacoby said. "I heard the boos, trust me. I wanted to go, but I had to stay patient."

Tie: Prolonging Perfection

Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Being unbeaten was hardly a guarantee on Saturday night.

Swedish strawweight Josefine Knutsson arrived for the show's first bout with a pristine 8-0 pro record but left 15 minutes later on the wrong end of a unanimous decision that saw all three judges award her opponent, Venezuelan brawler Piera Rodriguez, all three rounds.

And it was no picnic for Daniel Marcos either.

The Peruvian bantamweight was 16-0 overall upon entering the cage for a three-round scrap with Adrian Yanez, and he was by no means a lock when a split decision was announced – though he did emerge perfect after the deciding judge saw it 29-28 in his favor.

One judge gave Yanez two of three rounds—which matched the W/L card—but he was overruled by a 3-0 nod in Marcos' direction that left judge Eric Colon's 2-1 score to tip the balance.

Marcos was the busier and sharper fighter in the first round before Yanez rallied to land 41 strikes in the second and appeared to have his foe flummoxed in the third, including a prolonged stretch at the end in which Marcos simply flitted around the perimeter of the cage.

Still, he wound up with an 86-79 edge in significant strikes and did score the fight's only two takedowns.

"We know what happens at the highest level and we knew what Yanez brings to the table," Marcos said. "You want a show, I'm gonna put on a show."

Loser: First Impressions

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To say Navajo Stirling arrived with some hype would be an understatement.

The 27-year-old New Zealander was a KO winner on Dana White's Contender Series last summer and made his official UFC debut in a main-card opener in front of a full house.

And, to top it off, he was the card's biggest favorite at -1000.

But while the City Kickboxing product did get a victory by deserved—if not wildly popular—decision over English-born/Florida-based trial horse Tuco Tokkos, to simply suggest it was unimpressive would do the unflattering adjective little justice.

Though younger, longer and clearly better conditioned than his light heavyweight foe, Stirling didn't provide anything resembling the fireworks he'd produced while winning five straight fights—including four by KO—since debuting as a pro in 2022.

He did land far more total and significant strikes than Tokkos, 36, but was taken down three times and controlled for more than three minutes, too.

"I thought he would open himself more but he seemed more determined to cover up and survive," Stirling said. "I tried to put on a performance for you guys."

Winner: Not Done Yet

Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

It looked like the perfect career-ending fight.

Michael Johnson left Ottman Azaitar in a semi-conscious heap in the center of the cage and strutted from corner to corner drinking in what was easily the night's loudest crowd pop.

It leveled his UFC record at 15-15 and added another nugget to a combative time capsule that includes wins over promotional stalwarts Tony Fergsuon and Dustin Poirier alongside defeats by the likes of Nate Diaz, Justin Gaethje and Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov.

So if ever there'd been a fighter with nothing left to prove, it was the 38-year-old "Menace."

But he's not done. In fact, to hear him tell it, he's not even close.

"I've been in this business 15 years," he said. "I am the UFC when it comes to being in here and fighting. And guess what? I'm 38 and I'm not stopping anytime soon."

The second-round KO, which came at 2:03 of the middle session, was Johnson's second straight win since a 2023 loss to Diego Ferreira.

It's the first time he's won consecutive fights since 2018 and gives him a chance to get to three straight for the first time since he reeled off wins over Joe Lauzon, Gleison Tibau, Melvin Guillard and Edson Barboza from 2013 to 2015.

"We're gonna get to the top, I promise you," he said.

Winner: Finishing Phenomenon

Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

For this one, we'll go ahead and channel a little Jim Croce.

You don't tug on Superman's cape. You don't spit into the wind. You don't pull the mask off an old Lone Ranger. And, if his track record is indicative, you don't go the distance with Joel Álvarez.

The Spanish stoppage specialist added a 22nd straight early win to his resume with an abrupt, dramatic and punishing first-round finish of rugged lightweight Drakkar Klose.

The 31-year-old had drawn 17 submissions and now had five KOs after the quick toppling of Klose, which came after Álvarez drove Klose to the fence with a hard left hand and connected on the chin with a jumping knee.

He quickly seized his compromised foe's neck with his left arm while continuing to land unfettered punches with the right until Dan Miragliotta intervened at 2:48.

It was his 14th finish in five minutes or less and upped his UFC mark to 7-2 since he arrived in 2019, with the only loss in the last eight fights coming to top-ranked lightweight Arman Tsarukyan in 2022.

"I'm Spanish, what can I say," he said. "I just needed to continue to damage him (to get the finish) and at that point it was just continue to pound him."

Winner: Remember the (Nick) Name

Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

You can watch fights for a long time and never see a fighter with a more appropriate nickname—the "Sniper"—than Sean Woodson brought with him on Saturday night.

The 32-year-old featherweight stands an impossible 6'2" with a pterodactyl-like 78-inch reach and he used those physical tools to their maximum effectiveness on the way to a devastating first-round TKO of an outgunned Fernando Padilla.

Padilla arrived with 14 finishes in 16 wins and seemed intent on pressuring his lanky foe but when he was unable to find his way in close he became a sitting duck for Woodson's stinging jabs and long crosses, not to mention a punishing leg kick or two for good measure.

The gap in speed was apparent, too, and Woodson began the final sequence with a left hook followed by a hard right uppercut that sent Padilla reeling. From there, a right-left combination drove the Mexican to the floor and referee Andrew Glenn soon intervened, ending it at 4:58.

"He overwhelms guys, but I wasn't gonna let him come through me," Woodson said. "That dude is a lethal finisher and I finished him."

Loser: Expressing Himself

Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Miles Johns had the gestures down pat.

He'd get hit on the chin and derisively shake his head. He'd get hit to the body and wag his finger to indicate zero concern. And he'd point to the floor to goad featherweight opponent Felipe Lima into a simple slugfest in the center of the cage.

But none of it worked.

Though he occasionally worked the crowd into a partisan lather, the Missouri-based tough guy did little else but swell, wobble and gasp on the way to losing nearly every moment of a three-round preliminary scrap that all three judges scored 30-27 for Lima.

The W/L card agreed and it was hard to argue given the Brazilian's edges in significant strikes (55-31), takedowns (2-0) and positional control time (2:55 to 1:35), alongside the fight's lone submission attempt—a rear-naked choke try in Round 3.

"I know I didn't have a good camp but I did my best," said Lima, now 2-0 in the UFC and 14-1 as a pro. "He's a tough guy, hard to finish. He's 6-2 in the UFC, well, 6-3 now, but he's tough."

Loser: Making a Statement

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Miranda Maverick is still trying to see where she fits in.

She arrived to the UFC as a precocious 23-year-old on a pandemic-prompted trip to Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, but found her star dimming a year later after consecutive scorecard losses—one split, one unanimous—to a pair of fighters in Maycee Barber and Erin Blanchfield who've soared past her in the pecking order and into the flyweight rankings.

She improved to 6-1 and won her fourth straight since the Blanchfield loss with a unanimous verdict over Canadian export Jamey-Lyn Horth on Saturday night, but didn't make the sort of impact—outside of walking in to the Top Gun theme song—that'll get her over the hump and into true relevance anytime soon.

Horth landed 63 total strikes to Maverick's 61 but the American earned a trio of 29-28 scores thanks to two takedowns and nearly seven minutes of positional control time.

A nice win that got her to 17-5 as a pro and 8-3 in the promotion, but not the sort of stuff that you'd have expected going in from a -900 betting favorite.

Winner: The Old Country

Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

On a card built around a fighter whose persona oozes polarizing patriotism, it's no surprise the early arriving fans in Tampa were ready for a red, white and blue celebration.

So when Florida native Ramon Taveras took to the cage against English interloper Davey Grant, the "USA, USA" chants rang from one side of the arena to the other in anticipation of a show-stopping performance from a bantamweight who'd not been beaten in a UFC setting.

But it didn't take long for Grant, who'll celebrate birthday No. 39 next week and turned pro when Taveras was just 14, to quiet the din.

The veteran celebrated his 13th octagonal appearance with one of his more complete efforts, keeping his younger, faster foe at a distance with hard punches and strafing his body with kicks on the way to a clear if not popular unanimous decision.

Two judges gave Grant all three rounds while a third saw it 2-1 in his favor, allowing Taveras some scorecard leeway after he dropped Grant with a long left hand in the second.

The W/L card agreed, seeing it 2-1—or 29-28 in points—for the visitor.

It was a particularly sweet win for Grant, who had several family members in attendance.

Full Card Results

Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Main Card

Joaquin Buckley def. Colby Covington by TKO (doctor advice), 4:42, Round 3

Cub Swanson def. Billy Quarantillo by KO (punch), 1:36, Round 3

Manel Kape def. Bruno Silva by KO (punches), 1:57, Round 3

Dustin Jacoby def. Vitor Petrino by KO (punch), 3:44, Round 3

Daniel Marcos def. Adrian Yanez by split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)

Navajo Stirling def. Tuco Tokkos by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Preliminary Card

Michael Johnson def. Ottman Azaitar by KO (punches), 2:03, Round 2

Joel Álvarez def. Drakkar Klose by KO (knee), 2:48, Round 1

Sean Woodson def. Fernando Padilla by KO (punches), 4:58, Round 1

Felipe Lima def. Miles Johns by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Miranda Maverick def. Jamey-Lyn Horth by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Davey Grant def. Ramon Taveras by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Piera Rodriguez def. Josefine Knutsson by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

   

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