In the UFC St Louis. co-main event this Saturday, welterweight Joaquin Buckley defended his number 11 ranking against Uzbek finisher, Nursulton Ruziboev.
Joaquin Buckley campaigned for a fight in his home city of St Louis, even asking Dana White at the UFC 300 press conference last month if he could headline the event.
Although he wasn’t granted his wish of headlining the Fight Night, the UFC did match him up with streaking welterweight contender, Nursulton Ruziboev.
Despite only having competed twice before in the UFC, the Uzbek contender had made easy work of both Brunno Ferreira and Sedriques Dumas, earning a fight against a ranked opponent.
Buckley was coming into the fight riding an extremely impressive three-fight win streak, with his last win coming against Vicente Luque just two months ago.
Joaquin Buckley dominates Nursulton Ruziboev with St Louis fighters 3-0
‘New Mansa’ was the last fighter on the card, representing St Louis. The prior two, Charles Johnson and Sean Woodson, both picked up wins in their respective bouts.
From the opening bell, Buckley looked to showcase his frightening power, as every time the 30-year-old Uzbek looked to close the distance, Buckley loaded up vicious counter hooks.
Although he was unable to land anything truly damaging on the feet, ‘New Mansa’ realized early on in the fight, that he held a huge advantage on the ground, despite Ruziboev being a big submission threat.
After scoring four takedowns in rounds one and two, the 30-year-old went back to it in round three where he found himself in full mount, reigning down hellacious ground and pound with more than half a round to go.
Buckley came extremely close to scoring the TKO stoppage, but referee Keith Peterson wanted to see Ruziboev’s lights turned off before he was willing to step in and stop it. With that being said, Buckley sailed to a unanimous decision win, scoring a 10-8 in the final round.
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Joaquin Buckley calls out Conor McGregor following dominant display
Joaquin Buckley has undoubtedly become a widely supported athlete and has used social media to market his personality well.
That, though, doesn’t make his callout of Conor McGregor make sense.
Following his dominant display over Ruziboev, which saw him extend his win streak to four in a row, ‘New Mansa’ called out ‘The Notorious’, despite McGregor’s comeback fight against Michael Chandler being booked for UFC 303.
“Who do I want next, huh?” Buckley questioned during his Octagon interview. “He got a fight (booked) already but it’s a massive name and only one name you should call out if you’re on this mic, a powerful name. That name is, Conor McGregor.
“(Conor McGregor) I want you, you’re fighting at 170lbs but you ain’t fighting a welterweight, you’re fighting a lightweight midget. Come at me bro, come at me, you said you built your weight up but you’re bullying Sean O’Malley and Ryan Garcia, come and bully me dawg.” Buckley stated.
Conor McGregor’s UFC 303 comeback against Michael Chandler takes place at 170lbs, and it will be only the fourth time the Irishman has competed at the weight.