Joaquin Buckley has his eyes on an August clash with undefeated Irish standout Ian Garry.
After experiencing some troubles in the middleweight division, Buckey dropped to welterweight, making his divisional debut on May 20 in a Fight Night clash with Andre Fialho. Things couldn’t have gone much better as ‘New Mansa’ scored another highlight-reel-worthy head kick KO in the second round. Back in the win column and feeling better than ever, Buckley is ready to put his skills to the test against fast-rising prospect Ian Garry.
“Yeah, that’s good money, yes sir. Undefeated fighter. You know, Conor McGregor 2.0,” Buckley said in an exclusive interview with LowKick MMA. “He’s got a lot of hype behind him. They love him and he’s a good fighter too. Don’t get it twisted, he’s an excellent fighter, but matches make fights and I think I’m a bad matchup for him.”
Joaquin Buckley is hoping to go toe-to-toe with Garry at UFC 292 in Boston, a city where nearly 23% of the population is of Irish descent. Asked about dealing with the inevitable ‘Bean Town’ boos from a potentially hostile crowd, Buckley said:
“I would love it. Like my boy [Floyd] Mayweather says, ‘They can’t fight for you.’ So it don’t even matter.”
After going 7-0 under the Cage Warriors banner, and capturing the CWFC welterweight title along the way, Ian Garry made his UFC debut in 2021, scoring a first-round knockout against Jordan Williams at UFC 268. Since then, Garry has added another four wins to his record, including back-to-back finishes against Kenan Song and Daniel Rodriguez. Sitting at an impressive 12-0, ‘The Future’ is ready for a step up in competition. Joaquin Buckley hopes to be that step up.
Joaquin Buckley is 6-4 inside the Octagon, though most of his tenure has been spent in the middleweight division.
