Joaquin Buckley foresees his road to UFC gold becoming clear with a win over a former champion in his next outing. In a recent interview that was posted to the Parry Punch YouTube channel, Buckley gave his own overview of the current state of the welterweight division ahead of his looming fight with Kamaru Usman. Buckley vs. Usman transpires at UFC Atlanta on June 14.
While a victory over one of the most accomplished titleholders in the rich history of the UFC welterweight title would pay dividends in getting his own title shot, ‘New Mansa’ does acknowledge there are some big players at 170 pounds nowadays. While getting into the specific of that landscape, Buckley said,
“Right now, we’re all in a race, right? Sean Brady already competed and put on a great performance against Leon, got the finish, got the choke. Ian Garry did his thing too, fighting Carlos Prates, even though the man was on all fours, crawling away, which is wild! But now, it’s my turn. It’s me, Sean Brady, and Ian Garry, we’re all racing to that welterweight title. The only thing that’s going to convince the UFC who gets the next title shot is the performance you put on. That’s it!”
Joaquin Buckley as well as the cases for Sean Brady and Ian Garry
Joaquin Buckley is riding a six fight win streak heading into this Summer time clash with Usman in a matchup that pits the number seven contender against the number five welterweight contender, respectively. Joaquin Buckley has statement wins through that stretch agaisnt names like divisional stalwart Vicente Luque, former welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson, and former interim UFC welterweight champion Colby Covington in his most recent outing.
Observing other standout names that Buckley mentioned, Sean Brady and Ian Garry stand out as the number two contender and the number six contende at 170 pounds, respectively. Brady is coming off of a finish of former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards while Garry is on the heels of derailing the momentum of a hot, surging contender in Carlos Prates.
