Joaquin Buckley snubs UFC champ with shocking choose for finest welterweight
There’s a brand new wave of contenders at welterweight and Joaquin Buckley is one among them.
Over the past yr, we’ve seen an enormous turnover at 170 lbs with veterans like Leon Edwards, Colby Covington, Gilbert Burns and Stephen Thompson dropping their final fights to high prospects.
#7 UFC Welterweight Joaquin Buckley rapidly rose by the ranks by TKO’ing Covington and Thompson, incomes him a shot at former champion and pound-for-pound king Kamaru Usman in the primary occasion of UFC Atlanta on Saturday.
Buckley expects to come back out of Atlanta as a title contender, gunning for the gold wrapped round Jack Della Maddalena’s waist.
Champion Della Maddalena will greater than seemingly defend his title in opposition to light-weight champion Islam Makhachev subsequent. Even with a title win, Buckley doubts Makhachev will stick across the division and thinks he’ll retire.
Believing he’s on one other stage than Usman and his fellow welterweights, Buckley was requested who he thought was the very best fighter on the planet and it’s definitely not Della Maddalena.
Joaquin Buckley ranks Ian Machado Garry as no. 1 welterweight
Rating the brand new wave at welterweight, aside from himself, Buckley believes his rival Ian Machado Garry to be higher than the remainder.
“To be sincere with you, Imma put Ian Garry as primary,” Buckley mentioned of the #6-ranked contender in an interview with CBS Sports activities’ Shakiel Mahjouri.
“He’s a sensible fighter. Stylistically, I must chase him down always, which makes him harmful,” Buckley mentioned of Machado Garry.
Machado Garry is 16-1 as a professional with a 9-1 file within the UFC. The Irishman has defeated Carlos Prates, Geoff Neal, Michael ‘Venom’ Web page, and extra. Machado Garry’s solely loss got here to the 19-0 Shavkat Rakhmonov on quick discover final yr at UFC 310.
“Shavkat, I’ll put second.
“JDM, I’ll put third,” Buckley mentioned of champion Jack Della Maddalena.
“I’ll put Sean Brady because the final one. That’s my truest evaluation.”
Joaquin Buckley says Sean Brady could be his ‘best battle’
The 18-1 Sean Brady is at the moment the #2-ranked UFC welterweight contender after submitting former champ Leon Edwards in March.
Buckley defined why Brady was so low in his private rankings.
“I imply, come on now. You bought knocked out by pillow arms,” Buckley referenced Brady’s standing TKO loss to Belal Muhammad in 2022.
“I gotta put you within the #4 slot, canine…
“I really imagine that, even with Brady being grappler and fighter, it’s simply kinds make fights.
“With me combating Sean Brady, he’d be my best battle. Promise you.”
Brady picked Joaquin Buckley to defeat Kamaru Usman in the primary occasion of UFC Atlanta this weekend.