The final UFC card of 2024 takes place in Tampa Florida with a headline fight in the welterweight division that will have plenty of title implications.
The outspoken and controversial character of Colby Covington has divided many UFC fans over the years and he will enter the octagon for the first time in over 12 months when he takes on the red hot Joaquin Buckley in the main event.
There are plenty of fun fights to look forward to throughout the entire card and, coming off a huge UFC 310 in which we profited 10 units, we have again completed our homework and offer our betting plays below.
Colby Covington vs Joaquin Buckley
You can hate on Colby Covington as much as you like, and many do, but he has been at the top of the UFC Welterweight rankings for a long period of time.
He has lost to two men since 2015, twice to Kamaru Usman and once to Leon Edwards, and all three were in championship fights.
The latest of those losses came over 12 months ago when he lost a unanimous decision to Leon Edwards in Las Vegas and he hasn’t been seen in the octagon since.
Joaquin Buckley enters the biggest fight of his professional career off the back of five wins in a row and three of those have been finishes via KO/TKO.
He earned a performance of the night bonus by knocking out UFC stalwart Stephen Thompson back in October and 14 of his 20 professional MMA wins have been via this method.
Buckley is large for this division and comes in with form and confidence but I am surprised he is such a big favourite considering he has fought a lot of strikers in recent times.
Covington can drag his opponents into the deep end with his offensive wrestling and that’s where I see the value.
¼ Unit Covington By Submission @ $15
½ Unit Covington By Decision @ $5.00
Cub Swanson vs Billy Quarantillo
Cub Swanson made his professional MMA debut way back in 2004 and had eight fights in WEC before the UFC took that promotion over.
He’s been in and around the top 10 of the Featherweight division for a very long time and has wins over Charles Oliveira, Dustin Poirier and Jeremy Stephens on his resume.
The veteran has two losses in his last three fights since moving up to the Bantamweight division but he is an experienced and well rounded mixed martial artist with plenty of fight left in him.
Billy Quarantillo is not a young man himself and has his fair share of experience inside the octagon and he lines up for his 25th pro MMA fight on Sunday.
It’s been an up and down UFC career since winning a contract through Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019 and he has failed to win, or lose, two fights in a row in his last eight fights.
He’s a more than competent grappler but I would suggest he’ll try and avoid the canvas against a guy as dangerous as Cub Swanson and I envision the contest to take place on the feet with the judges being needed after three rounds to decide a winner.
2 Units Fight To Go The Distance @ $1.94
Manel Kape vs Bruno Silva
Manel Kape earned a shot in the UFC off the back of winning the Rizin Bantamweight championship back in 2019 beating Kai Asakura who made his UFC debut last weekend when he lost to Alexandre Pantoja.
Kape also made his UFC debut against that same man in Pantoja back in 2021 via decision.
He lost his second fight in the UFC but then went on a four fight winning streak that was finally halted by Muhammad Mokaev in July of this year.
Bruno Silva is a BJJ black belt who fights out of American Top Team who has just 14 wins from 22 pro MMA fights.
He does bring a four fight win streak into this event and all four have been via stoppage..
If you only have time for one fight during this entire card, this is the one you should be watching as we are set for a cracking contest at Bantamweight between two very dangerous men.
Manel Kape has a very dangerous Muay Thai striking style and Bruno Silva is a strong individual who is also very dangerous should he get the fight to the canvas.
1 Unit Will The Fight Go The Distance – No @ $2.45