Ian Machado Garry and Joaquin Buckley are set to headline the final UFC event of 2024, the organization announced Friday.
The streaking welterweights will meet in the main event of a Dec. 14 Fight Night card scheduled for Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.
Machado Garry is 15-0 in mixed martial arts with more than half of his wins occurring during his UFC career. The 26-year-old from Ireland is 2-0 so far in 2024 with decision wins over Geoff Neal at UFC 298 and Michael “Venom” Page at UFC 303.
Buckley (20-6) has won five consecutive fights since dropping down to the welterweight division from middleweight less than two years ago. The 30-year-old is 3-0 this year and coming off a highlight knockout of Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson at UFC 307 in October.
This 170-pound pairing was announced one day after the division’s current champion, Belal Muhammad, announced he was withdrawing from the UFC 310 main event Dec. 7 and would miss extended time due to a bone infection.
Machado Garry and Buckley both offered to step in to face Muhammad’s challenger, Shavkat Rakhmonov, for an interim title at UFC 310 in Muhammad’s absence but instead were matched with one another.
Other matchups previously announced to take place on the card include:
— Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas
— Cub Swanson vs. Billy Quarantillo
— Tracy Cortez vs. Miranda Maverick
— Michael Johnson vs. Ottman Azaitar
— Joel Alvarez vs. Drakkar Klose
— Vitor Petrino vs. Dustin Jacoby
— Manel Kape vs. Bruno Gustavo da Silva
— Navajo Stirling vs. Tuco Tokkos
