Islam Makhachev is headed up to the UFC welterweight division, and there are some very tough matchups awaiting him there. One of them might turn out to be his “worst nightmare.” That would be Joaquin Buckley.
Makhachev is the long-reigning UFC welterweight champion, and the promotion’s top-ranked pound-for-pound fighter right now. Earlier this month, he announced plans to vacate his lightweight belt and head up to welterweight. The expectation is that he will walk right into a title fight with the division’s new champion, Jack Della Maddalena.
While Makhachev is widely considered the best fighter alive right now, more and more fans seem to believe Della Maddalena has the skills to upset him.
However, Buckley believes he will end up being Makhachev’s toughest test in the weight class — not the current champ.
Buckley, who is riding a win over three-time title challenger Colby Covington, and set for a fight with former champ Kamaru Usman next month, broke it down in a recent interview.
Why is Joaquin Buckley going to be Islam Makhachev’s “worst nightmare” in the UFC
“Even though me and Islam have never had a connection, he’s going to know a lot about me if we ever get booked to fight,” Buckley told Parry Punch (h/t MMA Mania). “The people he has struggled with and the people that have shown a couple of holes in his game… I’m going to be his worst nightmare, not JDM. JDM has a lot of holes that Islam can exploit. But what I did to Colby [Covington] and what I’m going to do to Kamaru [Usman] — even Khabib [Nurmagomedov] will probably tell him moving up ain’t a good idea.”
Buckley makes an interesting point. Makhachev is primarily a grappler, and Buckley has proven he can beat high-level grapplers like Covington. However, there’s a lot more to the pound-for-pound king’s game than that. Just ask Alexander Volkanovski, who suffered a brutal head-kick KO loss to the Russian in 2023.
How do you think a Joaquin Buckley vs. Islam Makhachev fight goes?
