Athletes
Joaquin Buckley | ‘This Is My Chapter’
Rising Welterweight Contender Joaquin Buckley Aims For A Statement Win Over Former Champion Kamaru Usman In UFC Atlanta’s Main Event This Saturday
In 2022, Joaquin Buckley made a career-defining move, dropping from the middleweight division to welterweight. Since then, he’s gone a perfect 6-0 inside the Octagon, earning a pivotal main event matchup against former champion Kamaru Usman in Atlanta.
That aforementioned stretch includes knockout wins over Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque and André Fialho, but none was as impressive as his stoppage victory over former interim welterweight champion Colby Covington this past December.
In his first UFC main event, and facing his toughest test on paper, Buckley couldn’t have shined brighter. The two squared off in the final fight of 2024 in Tampa, and Buckley made sure his name was at the forefront of fans’ minds heading into the new year.
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Buckley out struck “Chaos” 75-37 in terms of significant strikes, and the damage told the story. By the third round, a cut above Covington’s eye was so deep that the Octagonside doctor was forced to call the fight. While officially ruled a TKO via doctor’s stoppage, Buckley deserves full credit for the punishment he dished out against an opponent of that caliber.
“Fighting a person like Colby Covington, it just proved to everybody that I’m a dynamic fighter,” Buckley said. “[I’m] very versed in not just my striking, but my grappling, as well. He had a very hard time getting me to the ground, and when he did get me to the ground, we got up every single time.
“I really feel like I put people on notice when it comes to the 170 division. I don’t care what nobody say, nobody says my name. Everybody wants to talk about these other guys being the boogeyman, but no one mentions my name. As you see me start to climb the ranks and fighting these interim champions like Colby, a former champion in Kamaru Usman, and the performance I feel like I’m going to do on him, before you know it, it doesn’t even matter about people calling me out or not, they’re going to have to fight me because I’m going to have that belt around my waist.”
Following the win, Buckley used his Octagon interview with Michael Bisping to call out his next opponent. But instead of cutting a traditional promo, he let the fans decide. He listed three names — Leon Edwards, Kamaru Usman and Belal Muhammad — and asked the crowd to make noise for the matchup they wanted most. The winner? The “Nigerian Nightmare” Kamaru Usman.
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The former welterweight king and current No. 5 ranked contender hasn’t competed since October 2023, and his last fight at 170 pounds came seven months before that. Despite the long layoff, Buckley anticipates facing the same Usman fans have come to expect over the last decade.
“I think I’m going to be fighting the best version of Kamaru Usman,” Buckley said. “What he said out his mouth was that he wasn’t going to sign the contract unless he felt ready. With that being said, with him signing this contract against me, I guess he feels ready, like he’s going to get up in there and do something, so I’m prepared for the best Kamaru Usman we’ve seen.
Joaquin Buckley: St. Louis Born And Bred | UFC Atlanta
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Joaquin Buckley: St. Louis Born And Bred | UFC Atlanta
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“I know this fight is also life changing. He has done it all. He’s been in the big bright lights, he’s been in the movies, he’s done it all. I feel like this is my chapter, this is my story. This is ‘New Mansa’ time. I’m definitely going to show up and show out and do what I can to get my hand raised.”
UFC ATLANTA: Fight By Fight Preview
While Buckley has headlined once before, he didn’t need championship rounds to get the job done. When asked how prepared he feels to go a potential 25 minutes with a former champion who’s no stranger to competing for five rounds, Buckley said he trains hours on end every day in the gym and only gets better as the fight goes on.
Does he think it will reach a decision? Not at all. In fact, he’s looking to deliver the kind of viral moment that first put him on the map in 2020 when he landed the spinning back kick heard around the world against Impa Kasanganay.
Just in 2025 alone, the division has seen a new champion in Jack Della Maddalena, and a slew of contenders like Ian Machado Garry, Sean Brady and Michael Morales, all showcase exceptional performances. Not to mention, Islam Makhachev is now in the mix, having announced his move up to 170. Being his first fight of the year, Buckley believes he needs that same level of highlight fans saw five years ago to move him next in line for a shot at the title.
“My biggest advantage that I have, not just against Usman but anybody, is my mentality and spirit when I step out there into the Octagon,” Buckley said. “Every time when I fight, there’s not a sense of win or lose. It’s kill or be killed. That’s my only mentality. If I don’t make it out, I’m not going to see my family again. I feel a lot of fighters don’t go in with that type of mentality, and you don’t see that type of fight come out of them.
“I feel like you gotta make a statement in this fight. You see everybody on this road to gold, so every performance that you have has to be a statement. It’s one thing to have a Fight of the Night and do all of that, but it’s another to actually go out there and finish somebody and to go out there and put on the type of highlight that will last in people’s minds forever. That’s what I plan on doing. I plan on pretty much reproducing something what we did back in 2020.”
UFC Fight Night: Usman vs Buckley took place live from State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia on June 14, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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