Down a weight class but in the biggest fight of his life, Nursulton Ruziboev is unfazed by the chatter.
One half of the UFC on ESPN 56 co-main event, Ruziboev (34-8-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) hears the chatter from opponent Joaquin Buckley (18-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC), but views it as insecurity. The two fight in a three-round welterweight bout Saturday at Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
“He talks too much,” Buckley told reporters Wednesday during a pre-fight news conference. “He’s always done that. I don’t understand everything that he says because English is still hard for me, but I’ve seen it before in videos. Maybe this is the way for him to kind of show his insecurity. Maybe he talks so much because he’s trying to show me he’s afraid of me.”
Buckley has entered his own in recent months with wins over Andre Fialho, Alex Morono, and Vicente Luque. The victories have surged him up the official UFC rankings into the No. 11 position.
As his success has grown, so has Buckley’s outreach on social media. Not one to hold back and opinion, Buckley has shown off an outgoing and expressive personality with comedic posts and callouts.
Recently, Buckley displayed an army of tall training partners he assembled to prepare for the hulking 6’5″ welterweight Ruziboev.
“Yeah, I saw the video,” Ruziboev said. “It looks like all of them were about 6’4″. None of them were 6’5″. So it doesn’t matter if they’re all super tall or whatever. I’m going to walk into the octagon against him. I’m going to ask God for help. God is going to grant me this victory, so I’m ready for it.”
The fight was a short notice booking for both men. Buckley campaigned hard to fight in his home city and even took to the microphone during the UFC 300 news conference to ask Dana White for the opportunity. The promotion gave Buckley what he wanted and now Ruziboev plans to spoil the homecoming.
“I’ve fought a lot in enemy territory, so it doesn’t really matter to me because inside the octagon, it’s going to just be me and him,” Ruziboev said. “Everybody is going to be rooting for him, but he’s going to be the only one standing in front of me, so it’s not going to be a problem for me whatsoever.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 56.
