UFC fighter Joaquin Buckley doesn’t have a next opponent in mind. He has an entire team.
Buckley (16-6 MMA, 6-4 UFC) successfully returned to welterweight when he knocked out Andre Fialho with a head kick this past Saturday at UFC Fight Night 224.
Fialho marked the second Kill Cliff FC fighter that Buckley has finished, the first one being his all-time highlight spinning back kick knockout of Impa Kasanganay in October 2020.
Now Buckley is going after the entire team’s stable of 170 pounders.
“Who I really want, I want a team of guys,” Buckley said on the “Believe You Me” podcast. “So, I don’t want to just pick individuals, individuals, individuals. I want to pick a team and, like Dominick Cruz, build my motherf*cking name off of that team. I’m calling out the right team because they’re dangerous, they’re lethal.
“So, me calling them out, I’m dead-ass about it, but y’all got to see I really want the potential to build my experiences with these guys. I think they got holes in their game, but I know they’re good too, though, because the guys from this team could potentially knock me out, embarrass me, talk sh*t, but I don’t care about that. I’ve been there before.”
Buckley’s hit list includes current top contenders, as well as unbeaten prospects Ian Machado Garry (12-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) and Shavkat Rakhmonov (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC).
“Vicente Luque, Ian Garry, Shavkat Rakhmonov, Kevin Lee now, and then Gilbert Burns on top,” Buckley said. “I want all those guys. It’s not some disrespectful sh*t. It’s just business. Plus, they got all the 170 motherf*ckers. These are the dudes that are supposed to be the scary boogeymen.
“Definitely Ian Garry and Shavkat. They’re undefeated. They never tasted defeat before. If y’all so confident in y’all abilities, I should be easy work. Plus, I’m a good name too. I’m the dude with the craziest highlight knockout. That’s good money.”