At UFC 310, Shavkat Rakhmonov seemed to secure a title shot against Belal Muhammad, but did he?
Although the undefeated Kazakh defeated Ian Machado Garry unanimously, Joaquin ‘New Mansa’ Buckley believes a surprise title shot leapfrogging is still possible.
Joaquin Buckley Talks UFC Tampa, Rakhmonov’s Performance, and His Path to a Title Shot
Ahead of his UFC Fight Night main event against Colby ‘Chaos’ Covington, Joaquin Buckley was asked about the competitive co-main event at last weekend’s PPV.
Expressing a lack of admiration for Shavkat Rakhmonov performance last weekend Buckley stated;
“It was boring,”
“I wasn’t impressed at all by how he didn’t push harder for the finish.”
“You had two undefeated guys—one a finisher, the other a sniper—and I expected one of them to really go out there and take someone’s 0.”
“Especially with a title shot on the line, you have to go out there and perform, and neither one of them did that.”
Heading into UFC Tampa, Buckey currently holds the number 9 ranking, which might put him further from a title shot unless, of course, he delivers another viral stoppage this weekend. Buckley suggested this when he stated;
“I feel like I’m leapfrogging Shavkat,”
“He’s injury-prone, always something’s wrong with him—he might not even show up. It could just be me and Belal [Muhammad] next year.”
The road to UFC gold, according to Buckley, is simple: Finish Colby Covington in dramatic fashion, grab the headlines with a viral post-fight speech, and prepare for a championship fight in early 2025.
“The performance has to speak for itself,”
“I can’t just win by split decision. If I go out there and get the knockout, yeah, I’m taking my belt.”
Buckley Expects ‘Best Version’ of Covington, But Believes He’ll Still Prevail at UFC Tampa
The upcoming main event against Covington is a highly anticipated matchup especially since it marks the first time we will see Covington in the octagon since his defeat to Leon Edwards in December 2023.
Despite the 12-month layoff, Buckley is expecting to face the ‘best version’ of the former champion on December 14th, though he believes even Covington’s best won’t be enough to overcome the surging ‘New Mansa’. Buckly talked about this when he said;
“We can judge off his last performance; he wasn’t that good,”
“The best I’ve seen from Colby was against RDA or Jorge Masvidal. That was prime Covington, pushing the pace and showing his dominant style. But he’s said he took another year off to get back to that level.”
As of now, Buckley is the current favourite, with 75% of Tapology users picking the St. Louis native
“I’m expecting the best version of Colby, but I feel like his best still won’t match up with me.”
UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Buckley takes place live on Saturday, December 14.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
