Joaquin Buckley wants to see movement at 170 pounds.
Buckley (21-7 MMA, 11-5 UFC) himself hasn’t fought since a decision loss to former champion Kamaru Usman at UFC on ESPN 69 in June. The setback snapped his six-fight winning streak.
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At UFC 322, Islam Makhachev dominated Jack Della Maddalena to capture the welterweight title, Michael Morales knocked out Sean Brady, and Carlos Prates knocked out Leon Edwards. A week later, Ian Machado Garry defeated ex-champ Belal Muhammad at UFC Fight Night 265.
“If I can get anybody active, I say JDM. Me and JDM would be good money,” Buckley said on his Instagram. “It ain’t because where he placed in the rankings as No. 1, but I think me and JDM just stylistically, we match. Fireworks, I’m sure because of what we both went through getting held down for damn near five rounds. Well me four rounds, him five rounds, and him almost crying in the middle of the octagon. I think we would be good work.”
Now, Buckley wants to see everyone else get matched up.
“Right now, the division is on standstill,” Buckley said. “The matchmakers know their job. They know better than me what they’re doing, but right now they’ve got the hottest division and ain’t nobody fighting. You’ve got Islam out there playing Wrestleball. You’ve got Prates out there partying and clubbing. You’ve got Morales out there twerking and twirling. You’ve got JDM still at the house crying. You’ve got Leon missing again. You’ve got Belal trying to sell War Meals. You’ve got Ian Garry watching in the corner.
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“Boy, I don’t know what’s going on. What’s going on with the welterweight division? We’ve got to get things active. Come on now: That’s the truth. I’m ready to see what we’re capable of doing in 2026 because right now, we all wasting time. Every single person that’s at the welterweight division is wasting time. And oh yeah: Shavkat (Rakhmonov) is gone. Shavkat is knocked out of the rankings.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Joaquin Buckley sounds off on welterweight division for being inactive
