Gilbert Burns thinks Colby Covington has the style to pose problems for Joaquin Buckley.
Former interim welterweight champion Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) takes on Buckley (20-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 63 main event at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. (ESPN2, ESPN+).
Burns points to Buckley’s loss to Logan Storley at Bellator 197 in 2018 – a fight which prompted Buckley to move up to middleweight – as a reason to favor Covington.
“I think Buckley’s in the best momentum right now, but (wrestling is) Buckley’s kryptonite,” Burns told Submission Radio. “One of my favorite teammates is Logan Storley, he was the interim Bellator champ, he fought Buckley, and Logan just outwrestled him.
“He just took him down, beat him up with ground-and-pound, took him down again, beat him up with ground-and-pound. Destroyed him with ground-and-pound, and that’s something that Colby really can do.”
Since moving back down to welterweight, Buckley is 5-0, most recently knocking out Stephen Thompson at UFC 307 in October. However, former title challenger Burns thinks if Covington can weather an early storm, he’ll swarm Buckley.
“Colby’s always training,” Burns said. “I know those guys from MMA Masters, Daniel Valverde and Cesar Carneiro, they say that he’s always in the gym. The guy is always training, he’s always in shape. I think Colby might give a lot of problems to Buckley, keep taking him down with that crazy pace.
“Buckley’s a big guy with a lot of muscle. If Buckley cannot put Colby out of there in the first or the second round, I think Colby will overwhelm him and beat him up. Colby can get maybe a dominant decision win, or Buckley can get a quick knockout in the first or in the second round.”
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