UFC Tampa Predictions – Top Picks for the Final UFC Event of 2024

Looking for UFC Tampa predictions? We’ve got you covered for all fights on the final UFC event of the calendar year.

Also known as UFC on ESPN 63, the event is headlined by a welterweight clash between Colby Covington and Joaquin Buckley. It’s a wrestler vs. striker matchup that’s likely to be an absolute banger.

But that’s not the only thriller we expect to see in Tampa. The co-main event – Cub Swanson vs. Billy Quarantillo – is also supposed to be exciting. The same goes for Manel Kape vs. Bruno Gustavo de Silva, Victor Petrino vs. Dustin Jacoby, and others.

Colby Covington vs. Joaquin Buckley – Can Solby Upset the UFC Tampa Odds?

The UFC Tampa odds favor Joaquin Buckley, the main reason being that “New Mansa” has had a full camp, unlike Colby. However, he was supposed to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov, who’s nowhere near as good a wrestler as Covington.

In fact, “Chaos” is one of the best wrestlers in the UFC. He’s a former NCAA Division I All-American who won gold in submission grappling at the 2013 World Championships.  

But he’s not just about wrestling; he’s also a fine striker who lands plenty of powerful punches and kicks in practically every fight.

Covington is 17-4 overall in his MMA career, with all four of those losses happening in championship bouts. The last of those was against Leon Edwards, who beat him by unanimous decision after a five-round war.

An interesting fact is that it was Colby’s seventh straight fight that lasted for more than four rounds. Meanwhile, the UFC Tampa main event is going to be Buckley’s first five-rounder.

Knowing this, it’s only logical to think that if Colby doesn’t get KO-ed by Buckley early on, he’s going to get himself a win.

Tampa Turf War – Swanson Faces Hometown Hero Quarantillo

Billy Quarantillo is a Tampa-based fighter who’s 18-6 overall, but he hasn’t been great in the last couple of years. In fact, he’s 3-4 in the last four years, with his most recent fight ending in a loss to Youssef Zalal by submission.

Luckily for him, he’ll get a chance to redeem himself in his hometown of Tampa where he’s going to clash with 41-year-old veteran Cub Swanson. Although this guy’s been fighting professionally since 2004, he’s got no intention of retiring. In fact, he’s just extended his UFC contract.

He’s 29-14 overall, and his favorite method of victory is KO/TKO. He likes boxing, but that could be a problem against Quarantillo, who’s a hell of a striker.

This guy lands an impressive 7.36 significant strikes per minute – the highest in the featherweight division. On top of that, he combines striking volume with effective wrestling (1.24 takedowns per 15 minutes), which makes him a very tough opponent for Swanson.

Add to all this the fact that the fight is taking place on his turf, and you’ll understand why we think Quarantillo is going to win.

Manel Kape vs. Bruno Gustavo de Silva – Fight of the Night?

Will this be the Fight of the Night of UFC Tampa? We think it might be because both of these fighters are incredibly fun to watch.

Bruno Gustavo de Silva won the Performance of the Night bonus in each of his last four fights. Of course, each of those was a win for the Brazilian, with three of those being KO/TKO wins.

However, the chance that he will do the same to Manel Kape is very small, considering that the Portuguese fighter is still without a single loss by knockout.

That said, we think this fight will be a real war that will last until the final bell. But who’s going to win? It’s really a coin toss, but if we had to pick one, we’d go with Kape.

Victor Petrino vs. Dustin Jacoby – Someone’s Getting KO-ed

Victor Petrino is 11-1 overall with seven wins by KO/TKO. His UFC Tampa opponent, Dustin Jacoby, is 19-9-1 with 12 wins by KO/TKO.

Each fighter is coming to Tampa following a defeat. Petrino lost to Anthony Smith by submission – no surprise there, as grappling isn’t his forte. But that shouldn’t worry him much ahead of the fight with Jacoby, who’s all about striking.

He’s a former kickboxer whose record in that combat sport is 10-8, with nine of those ten wins coming via KO/TKO.

Knowing all this, it’s only logical to assume that the Petrino vs. Jacoby fight won’t last for too long. Someone will get KO-ed, but who will it be?

The UFC Tampa odds suggest Petrino is going to win, but we beg to differ. Our pick is Jacoby.

UFC Tampa Predictions for the Rest of the Fight Card

• Adrian Yanez vs. Daniel Marcos – Daniel Marcos
• Navajo Stirling vs. Tuco Tokkos – Navajo Stirling
• Michael Johnson vs. Ottman Azaitar – Michael Johnson
• Joel Alvarez vs. Drakkar Klose – Joel Alvarez
• Sean Woodson vs. Fernando Padilla – Sean Woodson
• Miles Johns vs. Felipe Lima – Felipe Lima
• Miranda Maverick vs. Jamey-Lyn Horth – Miranda Maverick
• Davey Grant vs. Ramon Taveras – Ramon Taveras
• Josefine Lindgren Knutsson vs. Piera Rodriguez – Josefine Lindgren Knutsson

We’re backing favorites in most fights on the UFC Tampa card. In fact, the only two underdogs we think will win are Colby Covington and Dustin Jacoby. All the other underdogs are expected to get steamrolled by their opponents.

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