Joaquin Buckley Hints Islam Makhachev’s Career Should End After One More Statement Win
Joaquin Buckley thinks UFC welterweight kingpin Islam Makhachev should retire once he gets past Kamaru Usman.
Makhachev became the UFC welterweight champion earlier this year at UFC 322 by dethroning Jack Della Maddalena in a dominating fashion. The newly minted two-division UFC champion has expressed interest in defending his title against Kamaru Usman and believes Usman is the hardest challenge for him at 170 pounds.
Makhachev has no plans to retire anytime soon. However, Buckley thinks once Makhachev gets past ‘The Nigerian Nightmare,’ he should lay his gloves down. ‘New Mansa’ lauded the Russian fighter’s accomplishments and how the latter defended his lightweight strap four times before moving up and getting a second belt. In an interview with Submission Radio, Buckley said:
“Whoever wins that fight between Islam vs Kamaru can get out of here, because if Usman wins, he’s one and done, because he said he’s moving to get that title against Khamzat for the rematch. If Islam wins, he said he’s gonna hold it down for a long time, but I don’t believe that. If Islam gets the fight that he wants, that means not only did you submit your name at lightweight over your brother Khabib, but then you also got the double champ status, and then you also beat a GOAT in Usman. So you just pulled the Jon Jones. What else is there to do? What else can he do?”
Check out Joaquin Buckley’s comments about Islam Makhachev below:
Joaquin Buckley thinks Islam Makhachev is not a natural 170-pounder
Although Islam Makhachev had difficulty putting on weight after vacating his 155-pound strap and moving up, the 34-year-old later revealed that he feels extremely comfortable at this weight, thanks to his coaches and good nutrition. After dethroning ‘JDM,’ Islam Makhachev admitted that he feels the strongest at welterweight in all facets of his game.
However, Buckley thinks Makhachev is not a natural 170-pounder and will have difficulty against ‘New Mansa,’ Ian Machado Garry, or Michael Morales. In the same interview posted above, he added:
You’d be foolish to keep fighting, because to me, Islam is not a natural 170 fighter, and that will get exposed if he fights a person like myself, Ian Garry, or Michael Morales.
Makhachev has no plans to move back to lightweight. However, for a superfight with Ilia Topuria, if the UFC comes up with a good offer, the Dagestan wrestling maestro has said he might reconsider cutting all that extra weight.
