Joaquin Buckley has issued a statement after suffering a unanimous decision loss at UFC Atlanta.
Buckley took on former UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman. It was the highest-profile fight of Buckley’s career, and a win would’ve been put him closer than ever to a title opportunity. Ultimately, Usman’s grappling proved to be too much for “New Mansa.” While Buckley was able to thwart takedowns and land some clean shots in the final frame, it wasn’t enough to prevent the outcome.
Even in defeat, Buckley has a positive attitude.
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Joaquin Buckley Holds Head High
Taking to his Instagram account, Joaquin Buckley admitted that he couldn’t execute his game plan due to Kamaru Usman’s effective grappling.
“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.
“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 @usman84kg and his Team and @francisngannou. Excited about the welterweight division.
“See ya when I see ya.”
The loss to “The Nigerian Nightmare” means that Buckley’s six-fight winning streak has been snapped. He hadn’t suffered a loss since late 2022. He’ll be looking for a way to bounce back in his next outing, and it appears he isn’t lacking confidence in his ability to do just that.
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