Joaquin Buckley asserts that he had already defeated Vicente Luque mentally before they even entered the octagon together.
In a momentous victory on Saturday evening, Buckley secured the most significant win of his career by stopping Luque in the second round at UFC Atlantic City. This triumph marked Buckley’s third consecutive victory in the welterweight division and is likely to propel him into the UFC’s divisional rankings.
During an appearance on Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour, Buckley expressed his conviction that he knew he would emerge victorious even before the first punch was thrown.
“I feel like Vicente just quit in there — point blank, period,” Buckley stated. “He quit. He didn’t want to be in there in the first place. Before the fight started, he didn’t want to be in there. When you’re a fighter, you can just sense those things. It’s hard to explain. You’ve got to get in there and find out.
“I knew it the moment I saw him. The moment I saw him at weigh-ins, I knew it.”
For the initial nine bouts of his UFC tenure, Buckley competed in the middleweight category. Since reverting to 170 pounds this past year, “New Mansa” has secured a flawless 3-0 record and is steadily establishing himself as a credible contender for the title.
When asked about the factors contributing to his recent success, the 29-year-old attributed it to simply fighting in his rightful weight class.
“I feel like the difference for me and who I am is, now I’m fighting in the weight class I should have been fighting in for the longest time,” Buckley explained. “It’s still me. It’s still the same old guy, but I feel like for me, getting success and being able to really showcase my talent and my skill set truthfully — I think people think there’s a difference, but it’s really not. I wasn’t fighting in the appropriate weight class for myself at 185.”
Buckley further elaborated that part of the reason he transitioned to middleweight initially was due to difficulties in finding suitable opponents at 170 pounds. With his current prominence in the welterweight division, he anticipates no such obstacles and looks forward to arranging his next fight promptly.
Following his recent victory, Buckley expressed interest in headlining the upcoming UFC St. Louis card scheduled for May 11. Although the card’s main event features a heavyweight clash between Derrick Lewis and Rodrigo Nascimento, Buckley believes he could seize the top spot with the right opponent.
“That’s just a feeling that I have,” Buckley remarked. “If I’m able to fight in St. Louis, I want to make it worth it. I want to come back and put on a show at the highest level, which would be a main event. Instead of just being a part of the show, I would be the show. I’d be the reason why everybody is coming to the event. It’s just a feeling.”
Regarding potential opponents, Buckley is open-minded. While he refrained from singling out any specific fighter, he expressed readiness for a matchup against Luque’s teammate at Kill Cliff FC, Gilbert Burns. He noted his history with fighters associated with Kill Cliff and Burns, currently ranked sixth in the UFC welterweight division.
“I actually love the idea of Gilbert Burns,” Buckley affirmed. “Right now we’re 3-1 against that team. The first guy that beat me from that team was Logan Storley back in Bellator. He held me down for 15 [minutes]. After that I knocked out Impa Kasanganay, Andre Fialho, and now their boy Vicente. So now I’m 3-1 with them.”
