Joaquin Buckley is willing to pause his ascent up the welterweight rankings in order to take on some big names from the UFC lightweight division.
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“New Mansa” picked up his fourth win in a row earlier this month when he defeated Nursulton Ruziboev in the co-main event of UFC St. Louis, and the former middleweight now sits at #11 in the UFC welterweight rankings following his latest victory.
Buckley made headlines after UFC St. Louis for a post-fight interview where he called out Conor McGregor before he later went after several UFC Hall of Famers online, and now the 30-year-old has continued stirring things up on social media by suggesting he’d like some “light work” against several high-profile names.
All these Lightweights moving up to 170 @ufc Shiiit all this heavy lifting I’ve been doing I am looking for some light work 😂😂😂 RDA, Oliveira, Chandler, and McGregor 🙅🏿♂️
— Joaquin New Mansa Buckley (@Newmansa94) May 20, 2024
Former lightweight king Charles Oliveira has indicated he’d be open to a welterweight move following his loss to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300, and after McGregor previously claimed he and Michael Chandler would meet at middleweight at UFC 303 it’s been confirmed their fight will take place at 170 lbs.
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“The Notorious” first moved up to welterweight for his fights against Nate Diaz before he also defeated Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at 170 lbs. in 2020, but with McGregor already booked for his highly-anticipated return fight against Chandler perhaps the most realistic option from Buckley’s list of potential opponents is former lightweight titleholder Rafael dos Anjos.
Get me out of LW rankings. For you LW out there calling me out I don’t compete at LW now on. I have nothing to prove to nobody, I walk around 195 at 39 years old. There’s lots of fights that make sense to me at 170.
I want to fight in July @ufc get me back in that octagon.— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) May 15, 2024
A member of the UFC roster since 2008, dos Anjos has bounced between welterweight and lightweight during the last few years and is currently the promotion’s #14-ranked lightweight following his loss to top contender Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 299.
If dos Anjos does intend to move up to welterweight for the remainder of his career then a matchup with Buckley could vault the Brazilian straight back into the divisional rankings, and for “New Mansa” the fight presents a huge chance to add a former UFC champion to his current win streak.
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Source link: UFC News: Joaquin Buckley Brands Ex-Champions ‘Light Work’ in Latest Callout