SALT LAKE CITY – Joaquin Buckley doesn’t think the UFC welterweight title is too far from reach, especially if all goes well this weekend.
Buckley, who’s 4-0 since dropping to 170 pounds in 2023, believes a win over former UFC title challenger Stephen Thompson this Saturday at UFC 307 will put him into title contention. Buckley (19-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) respects what Thompson (17-7-1 MMA, 12-7-1 UFC) has done in his career, but sees him as another step to get to his ultimate goal.
“Right now, he’s definitely going to be somebody that’s going to push my name, so you can call him a gatekeeper,” Buckley told reporters at Wednesday’s UFC 307 media day. “He’s definitely been at the highest level for the longest time. This is actually the lowest ranking he’s ever been, that we’ve seen, but at the end of the day I can’t tell his story. I can only make mine. But at the end of the day, I feel like this win for me is definitely going to put me in the position where I can fight the title one day.”
Even at 41, Thompson is still considered one of the trickiest fights in the division, given his uncommon karate style. Buckley admits it wasn’t easy to prepare for “Wonderboy,” but he feels confident he’s going to get the job done.
“It was hard to find (a similar training partner),” Buckley said. ‘I went to Austin, Texas to go train with Raymond Daniels, but that training and that sparring never happened. I was a little bummed out because there’s nobody else that can replicate my style besides that person I went to go train with. But then I thought about it, ‘Who is he training in order to imitate me?’ At the end of the day, this is going to be the fight of who’s got the best version and style to get their hand raised.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.
