Joaquin Buckley Planning Massive 2025 After UFC Tampa Victory
Joaquin Buckley kept things short and sweet during his appearance at the UFC Tampa post-fight press conference. Simply put, “New Mansa” is hunting UFC gold in 2025 (h/t MMAJunkie).
“My first main event was a big success,” Buckley told MMA Junkie and others backstage at Amalie Arena. “I feel like the whole card was very successful, getting a lot of knockouts. I feel like my fights shouldn’t have been stopped. It is what it is. You’ve got to protect the fighters. I feel like 2025 is definitely my year and we definitely taking over. With this being said, this is on a six-fight winning streak. I’ve got eight knockouts within the UFC.
“I feel like I’ve done enough to really put myself in a position to, yet again, fight for that title. Even though I know Shavkat (Rakhmonov) is next, blessed to that fight, but if anything happens where Shavkat or Belal (Muhammad) doesn’t step up into the octagon, I want to face them. At the end of the day, we’re going to keep this nice and short, bro. I’m definitely looking to take that throne in 2025, bro. We out.”
Buckley has good reason to feel optimistic going into the new year. Not only is he riding a six-fight winning streak, but he’s also proven to now be a well-rounded contender. Whether or not it’ll be enough to defeat the likes of current UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov remains to be seen.
One thing’s for sure, and that’s Buckley isn’t lacking confidence.
