Joaquin Buckley continuing to ravage the nursing home
Someone get Joaquin Buckley out of the nursing home, he’s still beating up old people.
This weekend, “New Mansa” returns to the octagon in Atlanta, GA to face former welterweight champion and pound for pound king Kamaru Usman. This will mark Buckley’s third straight fight against the old guard of 170.
But success has been a friend of Buckley’s this run. 6-0 as a welterweight and ranked seventh in the division, Buckley looks to top a former champion and make his way to the top to face off with the new king: Jack Della Maddalena.
Running wild in the nursing home
In his last two fights, Joaquin Buckley has really put a hurting on the old guard of welterweight. Stephen Thompson was finished in round three by one of Buckley’s looping right hooks. Colby Covington was saved by the doctor after Buckley battered him for the better part of three rounds.
Buckley has gotten some criticism for facing off with older fighters. Thompson was 40 and well past his expired date. Covington was 36 and also hasn’t looked great in his last fight. Now, he faces off with Kamaru Usman, 38, who has been inactive since 2023 and hasn’t won a fight since his rematch with Colby Covington in 2021.
But someone has to get your grandpa’s favorite fighter out of the picture. And if they’re holding a ranking above Joaquin Buckley, why not him?
Joaquin Buckley: The sleeper contender
Welterweight is great again. Divisions with long-reigning champs, like welterweight was under Usman, tend to get stagnant and boring. Now we have Jack Della Maddalena at the top and a slurry of new matchups are possible and exciting. Buckley wants to be one of them.
Welterweight is in the changing of the seasons. Edwards, Usman, Covington, those guys are out of the picture. Now we have Ian Machado Garry, Shavkat Rakhmonov and Sean Brady. With a win, Buckley hopes to become synonymous with those greats of the division.
But Usman is no joke. Don’t let his loss to Khamzat Chimaev fool you. He’s dangerous and if he’s firing on all cylinders, turning back the clock, Buckley could see his title hopes derailed.
