Kamaru Usman heard Joaquin Buckley say his name and he has an answer for the up-and-coming welterweight contender.
Following his win over Colby Covington at UFC Tampa this past Saturday, Buckley used his post-fight interview time to call out a number of 170-pound notables, including Usman, Leon Edwards, and Belal Muhammad, with Usman standing out from the pack.
On his Pound 4 Pound podcast, Usman responded to the callout, emphasizing that he’s open to fighting Buckley and anyone else, but it will be on his schedule.
“I feel like the hot chick at the bar, everybody wants a piece,” Usman said. “It’s almost like no one’s listening to what I’m saying. No one’s getting what I’m saying. I don’t care who it is. Shavkat [Rakhmonov], Belal, Ian [Machado Garry], Buckley, ‘JDM’ [Jack Della Maddalena], I don’t care who it is. One thing that I won’t do because I’ve done it for so long and too much, which is partially why I’m having to take this layoff, is compete when I’m not ready. When I am healthy, I don’t care who it is.”
Usman was in attendance at Amalie Arena to get a close-up look at his longtime rival Covington and his potential next opponent Buckley. For much of the contest, Buckley dominated Covington in the standup, but the bout came to an end before the championship rounds when a doctor ruled that Covington couldn’t continue due to a bloody gash over his right eye.
From what he saw, Usman believes he matches up well with Buckley.
“I remember watching the Buckley fight and I was drained from the whole card, but I remember watching going, ‘Oh, I like that fight. I really like that matchup,’” Usman said. “Covington took him down a couple of times. Obviously, me and Covington utilize the wrestling differently and how we approach fights. Most people know when I take you down, you’re not getting up unless I want you to get up, and so it’s different.
“I remember watching the fight and I’m going Buckley did great. First of all, shout out to Buckley, he did great for being able to go through a guy like Covington. With Covington having that long layoff, I don’t know how he’s going to show up, but everybody knows as the fight gets later, Covington gets a little bit more comfortable, so it was going to be how quick he was able to get the ring rust off and get going. Buckley didn’t really allow him to do that.”
Usman recently responded to criticism from fans over not accepting a short-notice bout with Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 after previously suggesting he was open to stepping in to save the bout following the withdrawal of welterweight champion Belal Muhammad. He wants to make it perfectly clear that he’s not only willing to face anyone, he plans to conquer the division again.
“I don’t mind who it is,” Usman said. “It’s like no one is listening to me. It seems like every week we get on here and I have to do this, no one’s listening. When I’m healthy, I’ll whoop every one of y’all, it doesn’t matter who it is. I’ve gone through the division and then I started going through the division again, so it doesn’t matter.”
Should a fight with Buckley not be in the cards, Usman has a suggestion for the streaking contender that has now won six straight bouts since dropping down to 170 pounds: a matchup with Ian Machado Garry.
Garry was initially supposed to fight Buckley in Saturday’s main event, but was moved to UFC 310, where he lost a competitive decision to Rakhmonov. Prior to that, Garry had won his first 16 fights including eight UFC appearances, so Usman thinks it makes sense for them square off to stay in title contention.
“[Garry] might not want to [re-book Buckley], but you’re not really in a position to just say, ‘Oh no, I don’t want to,’ especially you’re coming off of a loss,” Usman said. “You’re not really in a position to say that. You want to get back to the title and I think Ian says he wants to get to the title, this is the road right here. You go ahead and stop a guy that’s on a streak, which Buckley is on a streak.”
