If there’s going to be an interim title introduced at UFC 310, Joaquin Buckley wants to be one of the men fighting for it.
Originally, reigning welterweight champion Belal Muhammad was scheduled to defend his title against Shavkat Rakhmonov at the promotion’s final pay-per-view event of the year. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case after ‘Remember The Name’ suffered a nasty bone infection.
Once the news became official, rumors began surfacing that the promotion was actively looking for a replacement opponent for Rakhmonov, potentially for an interim title opportunity.
Rising contender Ian Machado Garry quickly threw his hat into the ring, but does anyone really want to see that fight?
Maybe, but ‘New Mansa’ isn’t one of them.
“Hey look, I’m going to let you finish but I’ve got something to say,” Buckley said in a video on Instagram while hitting a heavy bag. “Nobody wants to see that fight. People want to see knockouts. People want to see finishes. And that’s exactly what we’re fixing to bring, me versus Shavkat. He’s got 18 finishes, 10 subs, 8 knockouts, and your boy? I’ve got 14 knockouts, and I just knocked out my last two ranked opponents. So what you think I’m fixing to do to this dude?
“UFC, this is the fight y’all have got to make. Like I told y’all, I’m coming to take the throne, and I ain’t playing. Boom!” (h/t MMA Fighting).
Joaquin Buckley and Ian Garry look to parlay their undefeated streaks into a title opportunity
Buckley launched himself into the welterweight top 10 with a vicious third-round knockout of Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson at UFC 307 last month. With the win, ‘New Mansa’ moved his unbeaten streak to five, including three knockouts and two decisive decision victories.
Meanwhile, ‘The Future’ is sitting two spots ahead of Buckley in the rankings, holding strong at No. 7. Garry got there thanks to eight-straight wins under the UFC banner. In his last three outings, Garry has scored Ws against division mainstays Neil Magny and Geoff Neal and also earned a big victory over former Bellator sensation and one-time bare-knuckle brawler Michael ‘Venom’ Page at UFC 303.
