Who should Joaquin Buckley fight next? Exploring the UFC star's options after Kamaru Usman loss
Joaquin Buckley’s undefeated six-fight run hit a wall at UFC Atlanta against a vintage and tactically sound Kamaru Usman. Buckley struggled to impose his explosive striking as Usman kept taking him down early and often.
Over five rounds, Buckley did what he could to stay active, especially in the fifth. However, he never found the space to land anything significant. The judges scored the fight 49-46, 49-46, and 48-47 in favor of Usman.
Still ranked No. 7 in the welterweight division, Buckley is far from out of title contention. While Usman may have exposed his ground game limitations, he’s made clear progress in every outing, and one solid win puts him back in the title conversation.
So let's explore some matchup options for Buckley:
Who should Joaquin Buckley fight next?
The logical next fight for Joaquin Buckley is a meeting with undefeated Ecuadorian contender, Michael Morales. He's ranked just one spot below Buckley at No. 8. The surging contender holds an 18-0 record, with 13 of those wins coming by knockout. He's coming off a first-round TKO win over former title challenger Gilbert Burns.
This fight could easily headline a Fight Night card and would carry serious divisional implications. If Morales isn’t available, Geoff Neal is another strong option.
Ranked No. 11, Neal is a proven test for rising contenders and established names alike. He holds knockout wins over Niko Price and Vicente Luque and was part of the 2023 'President's Choice Fight of the Year' nominee against Shavkat Rakhmonov.
But from a pure entertainment perspective, a matchup against Carlos Prates might be the fight to make. The No. 13-ranked Brazilian striker recently lost a hard-fought fight to Ian Garry.
A showdown between Prates and Buckley has fireworks written all over it. Neither man is afraid to brawl, and both carry knockout power.
Joaquin Buckley releases statement after loss to Kamaru Usman at UFC Atlanta
Joaquin Buckley doesn't hold a flicker of doubt that he will bounce back stronger after the loss to Kamaru Usman at UFC Atlanta. Despite the setback, Buckley called the event a personal victory.
He acknowledged Usman’s grappling but took pride in defending late takedown attempts and pushing the pace in the final round. He released a statement on Instagram following the loss, stating:
"Hand wasn’t raised last night, but I am still victorious and will be one of the greats. This trip has been beyond amazing, and I wouldn’t change a thing that happened in my fight camp. Everything was perfectly planned, I just didn’t execute like I know I could… We wanted to land early damage on Usman and get him moving back, but he did a good job neutralizing threats with takedowns."
He added:
“But don’t get it twisted, Usman was more concerned about holding me than hurting me in this fight, but he did what he felt was necessary to win, and so can’t be mad at him. Congrats to Usman and his Team and Francis Ngannou."
Check out Joaquin Buckley's statement below: