After being a Fighter of the Year contender in 2024 with a 4-0 run, Joaquin Buckley has only competed once since then, and now plans to reintroduce himself to the UFC fan base.
Buckley returns after nearly a year-long layoff to face Sean Brady on the main card of Saturday’s UFC 328 event in Newark, N.J. In his most recent bout, Buckley lost a unanimous decision to former welterweight champ Kamaru Usman in the main event of UFC Atlanta this past June.
“New Mansa” discussed the lengthy layoff and whether it was annoying or actually a blessing in disguise for his growth and development as a fighter and a human being.
“That part right there: Everything a blessing in disguise, brother,” Buckley told MMA Fighting. “Everything’s a blessing in disguise. I like how you put that.
“It’s been busy. I’ve been keeping myself busy when it comes to just the small things, man. I had some losses in my career. Even though I took an L, man, I went to RAF and did that as well, man, going up against Pat Downey, just being able to do some random stuff, man. But things that I think really, kind of, applied great experience, that I could take with me into the octagon. So there’s been a lot of great things that happened in this past 10, 11 months now.”
Buckley’s incredible 2024 run was capped off with back-to-back finishes of two-time title challenger Stephen Thompson and former interim champ Colby Covington. The loss to Usman was a setback, certainly, but it led to Buckley taking a step back and reflecting on things.
Now he faces Brady, who is in a similar situation. After an impressive run — including a lopsided stoppage win against former champ Leon Edwards at UFC London in March 2025 — Brady ran into surging contender Michael Morales and was finished in the first round.
The matchmaking made sense all around, and Buckley sees it as the perfect fight to return to against a fighter he has a lot of respect for.
“To be honest with you, man, this is going to be one of those good type of fights that I’ll get everything just flowing,” Buckley said. “But Sean Brady, I know that he’s not going to be no scrub. I know that he’s not going to be no punk. He’s going to go out there and make it a fight, and he’s going to try to look for his takedowns and look for his clinch opportunities, and that’s what we’re looking for. We want to get close. …
“[It was] no rush, no picking of the fighters or my own willing to fight somebody different. I think Sean Brady and myself is a match made in heaven. That’s all I’m going to say: It’s a match made in heaven, you know what I’m saying? After this fight, he definitely got to unblock me [on social media], man. He blocked me. He still got me blocked. But I respect him because at the end of the day. I can’t do what I want to do without an opponent, and obviously, he signed that contract, so I have nothing but respect for that man once we step in there.”
Buckley understands the stakes in the matchup: The loser takes a bigger step back in a loaded up 170-pound division, while a win puts him right back in the mix. Buckley knows his time is now to make a run, and plans on making a big statement on Saturday night.
“I feel like the headline is going to be a reintroduction of Joaquin Buckley for the UFC and Paramount,” Buckley said. “I’m being reintroduced to a new fan base since being out for 11 months, and I truly believe that this is the time that I really get to prove to the world who I am and what I’m capable of doing, and truthfully, why I will be the next world champion in the welterweight division.
“So it’s a reintroduction to Joaquin Buckley in the UFC.”
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