Joaquin Buckley didn't end 2023 on many lists as a fighter to watch in the UFC in 2024. Yeah, the welterweight from St. Louis was 2-0 in 2022, but there was nothing that suggested he was about to become an integral part of one of the sport's most intriguing divisions.
His 2023 wins over Andre Fialho and Alex Morono ended a two-fight losing streak, but didn't otherwise attract much attention.
Now, though, Buckley is in the main event of the final UFC card of 2024 and with a win, will suddenly be a key figure in the mix in 2025. He puts a five-fight winning streak on the line Saturday when he meets Colby Covington in the main event of UFC Tampa in Tampa, Florida.
He's coming off of an incredible knockout of veteran Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson at UFC 307 on Oct. 5 in Salt Lake City, Utah, becoming only the second man in 26 fights to KO Thompson. And he's looking to duplicate the feat against Covington, the one-time interim welterweight champion.
"Not only am I looking to get a devastating knockout, I'm looking to show all my tools," Buckley said.
Buckley has been on a roll since the start of 2023 although he's just now starting to get the credit for that. He opened 2024 by stopping Vicente Luque in the second round. He won a decision over Nursulton Ruziboev in the main event of UFC St. Louis on May 11, and rebounded by blasting Thompson at UFC 307.
He was supposed to fight Ian Machado Garry in the main event, but Garry was pulled from that bout and inserted into a match with Shavkat Rakhmonov in the co-main event of UFC 310. So Covington stepped in to take his place.
Covington, who enters the bout having lost two of his last three, relies on superior conditioning and elite wrestling to overwhelm opponents. Buckley is a striker, but there are subtle changes in him now. One of them came when he was discussing his desire to finish Covington.
Yes, he said he wanted to score another devastating KO. But he's willing to wrestle with one of the sport's best MMA wrestlers.
"I'm also intrigued to see how my wrestling defense, or my offensive wrestling, does against Colby Covington, too, because we're looking to be a mixed martial artist in this fight," Buckley said.
Fighters say a lot of things before a fight and often it's a psychological battle with the opponent. Much of what they say publicly is calculated, if only to plant a seed of doubt in an opponent's mind. If Buckley willingly chooses to take the fight to an area that is Covington's bread-and-butter, it could turn out to be a disastrous move or show the growth and development of a guy ready to compete for the title.
Buckley, of course, views it as the latter, and to that end, he won't be nearly as active in 2025 as he was in 2024. He's going to wait for a title shot if he beats Covington, despite the fact that there will be a number of intriguing fights out there for him.
Buckley is ranked ninth and Covington is sixth, so if Buckley wins, he'll likely move up to No. 6 in the official UFC rankings.
Champion Belal Muhammad is expected to defend against Rakhmonov in the first part of 2025. Buckley wants to wait for that winner, though there's no guarantee he's going to get it. Former champion Leon Edwards is No. 1 and he'll undoubtedly be cageside for Muhammad-Rakhmonov and want to challenge the winner. Another former champion, Kamaru Usman, is No. 3 and has designs on one more title run.
Jack Della Maddalena at No. 4 and Sean Brady at No. 5 are prospects who have built themselves into contenders.
He believes he's the best and is looking to prove it. He has matched potential with performance and believes he'll look so good against Covington that fans will demand to see him in a title shot next.
"Sometimes it's good to have a little bit of delusion, but you've got to have the work ethic, too," Buckley said. "You need to put yourself in situations where you try and become better and you try to challenge yourself. That's what I feel like a lot of fighters do not do.
"But if they don't do it, it puts me in a position where I can show up and show out. My confidence comes from all the preparation and hard work we've put in."