Joaquin
Buckley’s six-fight winning streak may have come to an end at
UFC
Atlanta, but he is confident that the best is yet to come.
“New Mansa” struggled with his defensive wrestling for much of the
evening, dropping a five-round verdict to former welterweight king
Kamaru
Usman on Saturday night at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
While Buckley staged a late rally, it was too late to sway the
scorecards in his favor.
“Hand wasn’t raised last night, but I am still victorious and will
be one of the greats,” Buckley wrote on Instagram.
“This trip has been beyond amazing, and I wouldn’t change a thing
that happened in my fight camp. Everything was perfectly planned —
I just didn’t execute like I know I could… We wanted to land early
damage on Usman and get him moving back, but he did a good job
neutralizing threats with takedowns.
“But don’t get it twisted: Usman was more concerned about holding
me than hurting me in this fight, but he did what he felt was
necessary to win and so can’t be mad at him. Congrats to [Usman]
and his team and [Francis
Ngannou], I saw [your] message. Excited about the welterweight
division. See ya when I see ya.”
Ngannou, the former
UFC heavyweight champion and current
PFL star, was in attendance at UFC Atlanta to support Usman. He
also offered some words of praise for Buckley’s late surge in the
fifth frame.
“Congrats to my brother [Kamaru Usman] for his amazing victory last
night. It’s inspiring to see him do that after all he’s been
through lately,” Ngannou wrote on X. “Congrats to [Joaquin Buckley]
on his impressive performance. That Round 5!”
Congrats to my brother @USMAN84kg
for his amazing victory last night. It’s inspiring to see him do
that after all he’s been through lately.Congrats to @Newmansa94
on his impressive performance. That round 5! 🔥😱 pic.twitter.com/9BPh1uBg0h— Francis
Ngannou (@francis_ngannou)
June 15, 2025
The 31-year-old Buckley emerged as a fresh contender at 170 pounds
during a winning streak that included notable victories over the
likes of Colby
Covington, Stephen
Thompson, Nursulton
Ruziboev and Vicente
Luque. The St. Louis, Missouri, native initially rose to
prominence in the UFC for his viral spinning back kick knockout of
Impa
Kasanganay in October 2020.
