Joaquin Buckley wants his shot at the interim title.
On Thursdays, news broke that welterweight champion Belal Muhammad was forced out of his UFC 310 title defense against Shavkat Rakhmonov due to a nasty injury. While nothing is official, reports are that the UFC currently is looking for a replacement opponent for Rakhmonov, perhaps even for an interim welterweight title, and almost immediately Ian Machado Garry threw his hat in the ring for that opportunity.
But not so fast, so says Buckley.
Thursday evening, Buckley released a response video to Garry’s callout of Rakhmonov, dismissing the undefeated Irish star’s claim and suggesting he is better served to “take the throne.”
“Hey look, I’m going to let you finish but I’ve got something to say,” Buckley said while hitting a heavy bag. “Nobody wants to see that fight. People want to see knockouts. People want to see finishes. And that’s exactly what we’re fixing to bring, me versus Shavkat. He’s got 18 finishes, 10 subs, 8 knockouts, and your boy? I’ve got 14 knockouts, and I just knocked out my last two ranked opponents. So what you think I’m fixing to do to this dude?
“UFC, this is the fight y’all have got to make. Like I told y’all, I’m coming to take the throne, and I ain’t playing. Boom!”
Currently ranked No. 9 in the UFC welterweight rankings, Buckley is on a five-fight unbeaten streak since dropping back down to 170 pounds. Most recently he knocked out Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson at UFC 307 earlier this month.
Garry, meanwhile, is No. 7 in the UFC rankings and most recently won a close decision over Michael “Venom” Page at UFC 303 this summer.
UFC 310 takes place on Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and also features a men’s flyweight title bout between Alexandre Pantoja and Kai Asakura.
