Joaquin Buckley, the welterweight contender also known as “New Mansa,” suffered a setback in his UFC Atlanta main event loss to Kamaru Usman on UFC Fight Night, ending his six-fight win streak. The defeat, which was was his first at 170 pounds, drew a lot of attention not only for Usman’s dominance, but also for former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya’s harsh remarks. Adesanya, watching live on his YouTube channel, called Buckley “annoying” and expressed a lot of dislike on Buckley, which ignited a feud that has quickly escalated.
Buckley, who began his UFC career at middleweight before shifting and thriving at welterweight, didn’t hold back in adressing Adesanya’s comments. His fiery response on social media and his YouTube channel has stirred the MMA community, with Buckley now challenging “The Last Stylebender” to settle their differences and a new formed beef in the Octagon. The callout has reignited a past encounter at the UFC Performance Institute, which has set the stage for a potential blockbuster middleweight clash in the near future.
Following Buckley’s unanimous decision loss against Kamaru Usman, aka “The Nigerian Nightmare,” Buckley expressed raw emotion and humility in defeat saying, “I feel so humiliated.” However, his focus quickly shifted to Adesanya’s remarks, which he deeply found personal. “He knows what it is to take an L, but to say that you hate a motherf**ker and you glad they lost… is wild to me, bro,” Buckley said on his YouTube channel. He then referenced a prior face-to-face at the UFC PI where he proposed a fight, only for Adesanya to stay silent, accusing him of hiding behind his platform.
Buckley doubled down, questioning Adesanya’s authenticity saying, “You ain’t no real fighter. You want to be a little pretty boy… The real African that runs the spot is DDP (Dricus du Plessis).” Willing to return to 185 pounds, Buckley challenged, “You can get this work any given time, bro.” With Adesanya coming off of a loss against du Plessis and Buckley seeking redemption, the feud could translate to a high-stakes middleweight bout, where Buckley can capitalize on Adesanya’s star power.
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