Capping off the year with a BANGER 🔥@IanGarryMMA
vs @NewMansa94
is the
#UFCTampa MAIN EVENT!Get tickets 👉 https://t.co/eoKeUgRb8k pic.twitter.com/QJofp85j9y
— UFC (@ufc)
November 1, 2024
It appears the
Ultimate Fighting Championship already had a plan for Ian
Garry.
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Per a UFC release on
Friday, Garry (15-0) will be coming to blows with Joaquin
Buckley (20-6) in the main event of UFC Tampa, also known as
UFC on ESPN 63. The two welterweights will get after it inside of
the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, on Dec. 14. Garry had been
calling for a chance to vie for an interim 170-pound strap against
Shavkat
Rakhmonov due to champ Belal
Muhammad’s illness, but the promotion is going in a different
direction.
Garry has passed every test since joining the UFC roster in 2021,
introducing himself to the brass by smashing Jordan
Williams at the tail end of the first round. The unbeaten
Irishman has slugged his way up the welterweight ladder with five
wins since early 2023, most recently topping Michael
Page on the scorecards. Along the way up, “The Future” also
surpassed names including Daniel
Rodriguez, Neil Magny
and Geoff
Neal.
Since dropping back down to welterweight, Buckley has been a man
possessed in his new weight class. “New Mansa” has rattled off five
victories dating back to May 2023, with knockouts of Andre
Fialho, Vicente
Luque and Stephen
Thompson bolstering a resume packed with highlight-reel
finishes. Buckley, who lost his organizational debut in 2020 to
Kevin
Holland, put himself on the map by lamping Impa
Kasanganay with a picturesque spinning back kick in 2020.
UFC on ESPN 63, the final UFC card of 2024, goes down on Dec. 14 at
the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. With the marquee match of
Garry-Buckley on the books, the lineup appears relatively complete.
Additional main card pairings include a flyweight scrap pitting
Manel
Kape against Bruno
Silva, a strawweight tilt when Amanda
Ribas faces Mackenzie
Dern and a 125-pound encounter between Miranda
Maverick and Tracy
Cortez.