"He's just not that dude" - Joaquin Buckley explains rejecting Ian Garry fight to pursue a "bigger name"
Joaquin Buckley has suggested that he turned down a potential fight against Ian Garry to face a more high-profile opponent. He is coming off a win in his hometown of St. Louis and is looking to climb the 170-pound rankings.
Buckley has fought twice in 2024, beating Vicente Luque via second-round TKO in March and Nursulton Ruziboev by unanimous decision earlier this month. Meanwhile, Garry's lone MMA bout this year saw him defeat Geoff Neal via split decision in February.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Garry recently indicated that he'd agreed to matchups against fighters like Sean Brady, Colby Covington, Michael 'Venom' Page, Nursulton Ruziboev, and Joaquin Buckley, adding that they were yet to accept.
Besides, 'The Future' teased a return at UFC 303 (June 29, 2024), an event that'll be headlined by Irish megastar Conor McGregor's comeback fight.
In an interview with Parry Punch, Buckley has now asserted that he did turn down a fight against the 26-year-old Garry. The 30-year-old opined that he partook in two fights in quick succession and didn't want to rush into his next match.
'New Mansa' highlighted that he "declined" the Garry matchup, as its timing didn't work for him. Instead, he's engaged in talks to face a bigger-name opponent at a later date. Moreover, he jokingly insinuated that the Irishman has herpes and he could get infected with the same, as he (Buckley) has lately incorporated more wrestling in his fighting.
The Missouri-born combatant feels Garry's style of fighting and promoting fights is uninteresting. In his opinion, facing 'The Future' won't get him closer to a UFC welterweight title shot. Buckley, who recently called out Garry's idol Conor McGregor, stated:
"I got another offer that is a little bit more lengthy in time for me to prepare and get ready. But it's also a better matchup. It's a better fight as well, and a bigger name, in my opinion, than Ian Garry."
He added:
"That fight doesn't do anything for me, in my opinion, right? Ian Garry is the type of fighter, unfortunately, like now... I mean, now, he's hungry for it, right? He's trying to get back out there. He's trying to find these opponents. But he's just not that dude, to me, in my opinion."
Check out Buckley's comments below (0:58):
When Ian Garry shot down Joaquin Buckley's call-out to his face
After defeating Andre Fialho in his return to the welterweight division in 2023, Joaquin Buckley called out Ian Garry face-to-face at the UFC PI (Performance Institute). Garry subsequently scoffed at him. In 2024, it appears as though 'The Future' is now open to fighting Joaquin Buckley.
On the contrary, their 2023 UFC PI confrontation witnessed him ruthlessly shooting down his American counterpart's call-out right to his face. 'The Future' lambasted Buckley for purportedly turning down another ranked welterweight and claimed that his career was going upward while he (Buckley) was a lower-ranked welterweight. Garry said:
"I don't give a f**k if you've got a name. If your ranking's not higher than mine, [I want] nothing to do with it."
Watch Ian Garry shut down Joaquin Buckley's challenge below: