Joaquin Buckley is trying to finagle a fight with Kamaru Usman.
Unfortunately for “New Mansa,” it doesn’t sound like “The Nigerian Nightmare” is interested in accepting the challenge, recently telling the No. 9-ranked welterweight contender to “get in line” — a line that includes reigning 170-pound champion Belal Muhammad.
“I really don’t expect him to push for that fight just because of how difficult the fight might be for him,” Buckley told Luke Thomas. “I’m still working on things, but I really feel like when it comes to the standup, I don’t think Usman really has anything for me. I think my cardio and pace is definitely gonna challenge him and usually he’s the one that’s pushing that narrative on his conditioning, but I think that I can push my conditioning past Usman at this point in my career.”
If Usman remains sidelined, then Buckley would be willing to take on three-time welterweight title challenger Colby Covington. That said, “Chaos” only competes once per calendar year dating back to his Usman loss at UFC 245 in late 2019.
“The last fight that he had was against Leon [Edwards] and that was about a year ago,” Buckley continued. “Time ain’t on nobody’s side so if you really want to show the world what you’ve been up to and how you’ve been working, you got to fight. You know that I’m happy to go and find out myself too with Colby Covington if he’s not got a fight lined up. I’d definitely be willing to take that fight. That’s somebody that has fought for the belt, has proven himself, highly ranked in the division for 170, so why not?”
Buckley (20-6) has won three straight with five finishes.