Joaquin Buckley came to notoriety with his scintillating knockout of Impa Kasanganay. However, he couldn’t become a viable contender in the UFC’s middleweight division. As such, he moved down to welterweight, where he is 3-0, with the 4th coming this weekend.
Interestingly, his upcoming opponent, Nursultan Ruziboev, seems to have trouble, which Buckley appeared to sort out. In his latest Instagram video, Buckley hilariously trolled Ruziboev as he had problems checking in to the fighter hotel.
I ran into ol’ buddy here in the hotel. You know I had to come and see my boy…They ain’t have that money($75 a night). My man Nursulton [Ruziboev], he ain’t have that money. I was gonna front him real quick, but his coach got him though…He ain’t have no money on him. That’s a poor child…Poor child, literally poor child, the definition of poor child.
Joaquin Buckley via Instagram
Scheduled to be the co-main event of UFC St. Louis, Joaquin Buckley vs. Nursultan Ruziboev has all the makings of a scintillating fight. Buckley got the opportunity to co-main event the fight night after he crashed the UFC 300 press conference, pleading with Dana White for a main event spot.
Ruziboev is 6 feet 5 inches tall. Moreover, he has only fought at middleweight in the UFC, though he competed at welterweight elsewhere. Buckley had recently put a hilarious video on social media in preparation for the tall Uzbekistani fighter.
Joaquin Buckley previews fight with Nursultan Ruziboev
In his previous three fights, Joaquin Buckley defeated Andre Fialho, Alex Morono, and Vicente Luque. Buckley now has the 11th spot in the welterweight division. He has already trolled welterweight champion Leon Edwards, trolling Edwards for allegedly not fighting Belal Muhammad.
Joaquin Buckley vs. Nursultan Ruziboev (Image via: Instagram)Buckley himself has championship aspirations at welterweight. The first hurdle on his way is Nursultan Ruziboev. If victorious against the Uzbekistani, Buckley might break into the top 10 of the rankings. He recently previewed his fight with Ruziboev on his Brick Brothers podcast.
This is a big guy coming down from 185 to 170, and he has, I think, a 10-finish streak right now. So, you know, he’s hot right now. So to get that boy out of there and to do it in St. Louis, and doing it in front of my home crowd, I think it’s going to be a beautiful situation for my career…The people he’s fought, a lot of these guys, when he’s in a 20-fight career, he’s fighting guys that, you know, 0 and 4, 2 and 2…it’s just the level of guys he’s been fighting is not on my level.
Joaquin Buckley via Brick Brothers podcast-Advertisement-
After he defeated Luque in the co-main event of UFC Atlantic City, Buckley revealed his interest in fighting Gilbert Burns, a close friend of Luque. Burns lost his recent bout to Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 299. If victorious in his next fight, a potential next fight against Buckley would be a path in the right direction.
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