Buckley gave power to the fans with the decision to choose his next opponent!
Joaquin Buckley just exploded onto the UFC Tampa stage with a phenomenal win against Colby Covington. The action in this fight had fans jumping out of their seats. The St. Louis native didn’t just win; he made a statement that echoed throughout the welterweight division.
Buckley gave power to the fans with the decision to choose his next opponent. He gave them three high-level names. These include Leon Edwards, Kamaru Usman, and current champion Belal Muhammad. The decision to single out any one of them was dependent on the loudness of the cheers from the fans.
And cheers, they did! Kamaru Usman’s name as Joaquin Buckley’s next opponent echoed loudly in the Amalie Arena, with 18,625 fans beckoning him on.
The UFC Tampa main event victor followed the fans’ wishes. He called out the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ to face him next. Now, it lies with the UFC and the matchmakers to make this fan-favorite fight happen.
Joaquin Buckley has set his eyes on the former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman after a dominant performance at the UFC Fight Night. His domination of Colby Covington has arguably set him up for this high-level matchup.
Kamaru Usman is no pushover though. He was the reigning UFC welterweight champion for close to 3 years. However, his recent performances hint that he might be towards the end of his glorious career.
The decline of his career started after his 5th-round head-kick KO loss against Leon Edwards. What followed were more losses. He went on to lose the rematch against ‘Rocky.’ Usman then fought a short-notice fight at middleweight against Khamzat Chimaev back in October of 2023. Despite having a good third round, Usman lost a majority decision to Borz.
As of now, Kamaru Usman has not fought in over a year and is 1-3 in his last 4 fights.
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Joaquin Buckley put on a show at UFC Tampa this past weekend. Taking out a former title contender is no easy feat. And in doing so, he showed everyone that he belonged in the top tier of the UFC welterweight division.
Buckley opened a laceration below his opponent’s eyebrow in the initial round of the fight. As the fight went on, he continued to batter Colby Covington with heavy shots. This made the cut bigger and bigger till the doctor had seen enough and put an end to the fight.
Since moving down to welterweight back in May 2023, Buckley has unleashed his real potential. He is currently on a six-fight win streak, with 4 of those coming this year. He also boasts the most KO wins since 2020 (8 KO’s).
(Image Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck – Imagn)
