Joaquin Buckley dominated the UFC Tampa main event but the conclusion was still somewhat anticlimactic when the ringside physician actually ended the fight due to a gruesome cut suffered by Colby Covington that only got worse with each passing round.
The gash over Covington’s eye was opened in the first round from an uppercut landed by Buckley and the wound continued to take repeated damage during nearly every exchange. The doctor examined Covington in the third round and she actually showed concern that he might lose his eyelid if the cut got much worse so referee Dan Miragliotta had no choice but to stop the contest.
While Buckley was winning in lopsided fashion up to that point, UFC CEO Dana White still disagreed with the stoppage and he believes the call would have been different if the fight took place a little closer to home.
“No doubt that was a bad cut but that fight doesn’t get stopped in Vegas,” White said at the UFC Tampa post-fight press conference. “That fight keeps going in Vegas. 100 percent.”
Dana White disagreed with stoppage in UFC Tampa main event, but Colby Covington ‘wasn’t too pissed’ with ending - MMA Fighting
