Joaquin Buckley recently retaliated against Kamaru Usman's dismissive reaction to his callout for a potential matchup.
Buckley secured the most significant victory of his career thus far with a stunning third-round knockout of former welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson at UFC 307 last weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah.
With this victory, "New Mansa" extended his winning streak to five fights and wasted no time calling out Usman during his post-fight interview, making it clear that he’s ready to enter the mix for title contention.
However, earlier this week, in an episode of the Pound4Pound podcast, "The Nigerian Nightmare" brushed aside Buckley's callout but left the door open for a potential fight down the line, stating, "Take a number and get in line."
Buckley Seeks Title Eliminator Match With Usman
During a recent interview with Parry Punch, Buckley addressed Usman's dismissal of his callout. "New Mansa" pointed out that, aside from the reigning UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad, no one else has stepped up to challenge Usman. However, even Muhammad has shifted his attention to his first title defense against Shavkat Rakhmonov.
That's the funny thing; who's in line?" Buckley said. "The crazy part about Belal was, like, Usman doesn't even deserve a title shot. Plus, he said Shavkat is an easier fight than Usman, and that's what I believe the UFC is going to make: the Shavkat vs. Belal fight. The thing with Usman is nobody calls him out, and he's still a great name. The last fight he had was with Khamzat [Chimaev], so it's been a whole year. Come and get this word; come and get paid at least.
Buckley further emphasized that being a former champion doesn’t guarantee Usman an immediate title shot, especially after experiencing a string of losses. The 30-year-old Missouri native proposed that "The Nigerian Nightmare" should instead face him in a #1 contender’s bout.
Just because you’ve been a former champion and held the belt for a significant amount of time doesn’t give you the right to come back and say, ‘All right, I get to fight for the belt again.’ You’re still not accounting for those three losses you’ve had. So prove to the world that you still have the ability to fight for a belt. With me having five wins and three finishes right now in the goddamn welterweight division, I feel like you can sell that idea. If Kamaru Usman beats me, boom, he can fight for the title.
Usman is currently navigating the most challenging phase of his career, enduring a three-fight losing streak. The former UFC welterweight champion's last appearance in the Octagon was at UFC 284 in October 2023, where he suffered a narrow majority decision defeat to Khamzat Chimaev in a welterweight matchup on short notice.