Former UFC Champion Rumored For Massive Return Fight

Former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is a popular man. Despite the fact that he hasn’t fought since October 2023, his name is on the tips of many top contenders’ tongues.

Joaquin Buckley called him out after his impressive destruction of Colby Covington on Saturday night. Ian Machado Garry has voiced his displeasure with Usman for not accepting his callout.

Buckley and Garry may both be disappointed if they’re still chasing a fight with the No. 3-ranked Usman. The 37-year-old is seemingly all but booked to fight Jack Della Maddalena on what’s shaping up to be an epic UFC 312 card in Sydney, Australia.

The fight was reportedly leaked by welterweight contender Sean Brady, and the info was shared by MMA Frenzy. That info seems to check out as the fight is already showing up on Tapology as confirmed.

Usman would come into this fight riding a three-fight losing streak. He lost his title via a shocking head-kick KO at the hands of Leon Edwards in August 2022. That fight was a rematch after Usman had defeated Edwards in December 2015.

In the third meeting, Edwards retained with a majority decision victory. Usman would then briefly move up to middleweight to fight Khamzat Chimaev on short notice in October 2023.

Chimaev won that fight by majority decision as well. So while the losing streak looks bad, Usman was dominating the only definitive loss in the skid before he was knocked out. The other two losses were majority-decision defeats, and all three came against world-class competition.

Still, he’s 37 and will be dealing with a significant layoff coming into the fight.

That said, JDM will have been out of the Octagon for nearly a year when he comes to bang in his home country. The 28-year-old Perth native is on a 17-fight win streak, and that includes a perfect 8-0 record in the UFC.

Maddalena is coming off a brutal third-round KO win over Gilbert Burns in March, and the No. 4-ranked middleweight would love to knock off Usman and likely secure a title shot with the win.

Here is a look at what’s likely confirmed for UFC 312:

• Dricus Du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland
• Middleweight (185 lbs)
• Weili Zhang vs. Tatiana Suarez
• Strawweight (115 lbs)
• Kamaru Usman vs. Jack Della Maddalena
• Welterweight (170 lbs)
• Rei Tsuruya vs. Stewart Nicoll
• Flyweight (125 lbs)
• Jimmy Crute vs. Marcin Prachnio
• Light Heavyweight (205 lbs)
• Quillan Salkilld vs. Anshul Jubli
• Lightweight (155 lbs)
• Tallison Teixeira vs. Justin Tafa
• Heavyweight (265 lbs)
• Tom Nolan vs. Viacheslav Borshchev
• Lightweight (155 lbs)

Buckley may now find himself fighting Garry in a fight that was originally scheduled to headline Saturday night’s card. Speaking of UFC Tampa, here is a look at all of the results from the last event of 2024.

UFC Fight Night: Covington vs Buckley Results

• Joaquin Buckley defeats Colby Covington by TKO (doctor’s stoppage) at 4:42 of Round 3
• Cub Swanson defeats Billy Quarantillo by KO (right hand) at 1:36 of Round 3
• Manel Kape defeats Bruno Silva by TKO (strikes) at 1:57 of Round 3
• Dustin Jacoby defeats Vitor Petrino by KO (right hand) at 3:44 of Round 3
• Daniel Marcos defeats Adrian Yanez by split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
• Navajo Stirling defeats Tuco Tokkos by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Michael Johnson defeats Ottman Azaitar by KO (right hook) at 2:03 of Round 2
• Joel Álvarez defeats Drakkar Klose by KO (flying knee) at 2:48 of Round 1
• Sean Woodson defeats Fernando Padilla by TKO (strikes) at 4:58 of Round 1
• Felipe Lima defeats Miles Johns by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Miranda Maverick defeats Jamey-Lyn Horth by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Davey Grant defeats Ramon Taveras by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Piera Rodriguez defeats Josefine Knutsson by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)