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A UFC welterweight fighter recently talked candidly about his future in the division and a potential fight with Ian Garry and Michael 'Venom' Page in the near future.
The fighter mentioned above is Joaquin Buckley. The 11th-ranked welterweight switched from middleweight to welterweight last year and has won three consecutive fights since. Last month at UFC Atlantic City, he defeated veteran Vicente Luque by second-round TKO to earn a spot in the promotion's welterweight rankings.
In an exclusive interview with India.com, Buckley discussed his ideas about a potential fight with Garry. He offered Garry a fight after he moved to welterweight, but the Irishman declined.
Garry remarked that only fighting someone rated higher than him interests him, and Buckley does not have that to give him. However, now that Buckley is ranked, the fight is far more likely than before, despite 'New Mansa's' ranking below Garry. He said:
''Yes, so, when he was talking about, he only fights up to ranking. I believe he’s still ranked above Vicente Luque, but it puts me a lot closer to Ian Garry than he would like to be. So, you know, we gonna make Ian Garry a little bit more uncomfortable with me being in the rankings.''
Additionally, Buckley also declined a potential rematch with Kevin Holland. Holland defeated him in his UFC debut. But the match was contested in the middleweight class. Now they can compete again as they are in the same division. But a rematch doesn't appeal to the American. He expressed his preference to fight Page.
Buckley stated:
''But with now that Kevin Holland is not ranked and he is out of position, it takes that fight up and fight away from me. And with me being ranked now, I’d rather just fight somebody that’s ranked as well. And to be honest with you, I’d rather see MVP in the cage before I see Kevin.''
Ian Garry wants Colby Covington next
Ian Garry has seemingly agreed to face Colby Covington later this year.
Following his victory over Geoff Neal at UFC 298 in February, 'The Future' called out Covington. The former UFC interim welterweight champion unexpectedly responded by making a callout video himself. The two fighters have been back and forth on social media ever since.
Previously, Garry talked about a possible clash with Covington on Instagram. The unbeaten UFC welterweight said in the video that he had an agreement to fight the American:
"What's up everyone, it's Tuesday the ninth of April at 10 past 1 [PM]. I just want to let everyone know that I've agreed to a fight with Colby Covington. There is a date in place. Colby still hasn't signed the contract."
Check out the post below:
