Joaquin Buckley‘s recent call-out of Conor McGregor after defeating Nursulton Ruziboev at their UFC on ESPN 56 clash did not go well. ‘New Mansa’, the #11 ranked welterweight, proceeded to challenge the former lightweight and featherweight champion to a fight, asking ‘The Notorious’ to bully him. In addition, the 30-year-old also insulted the Irishman’s family, including his mother, father, and grandfather, undoubtedly in an attempt to get under his skin.

This has been widely termed as the worst call-out in UFC history by the fans. And former superstars and analysts, Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen, agreed with the fan sentiment on their ‘Good Guy/ Bad Guy Show’ on YouTube. Cormier, who was gobsmacked that Buckley managed to get booed for the call-out in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, had warned Sonnen that ‘New Mansa’ would probably respond to their conversation.

Buckley did exactly that as he took to his official X handle to give it back to the UFC legends. He started off by claiming that ‘DC’, Sonnen, and Michael Bisping‘s (who had also taken issue with ‘New Mansa’s call-out) “mothers had raised some h**s.” before blasting the ESPN MMA hosts for “trying to twist up my words” in a tweet.

And Cormier, not one to back down, responded with equal vitriol, warning the welterweight against talking about his mother, Audrey. “Shut up P***y! Maybe listen. You had a dumb a** call-out. You’re getting talked about by 3 of the biggest voices in the game. Maybe listen. It was the worst call out in history. Don’t let winning at few fights at 170lbs get you too excited bruh. Don’t mention Audrey!” ‘DC’ tweeted.

Unsurprisingly, when UFC CEO Dana White was asked about the possibility of a McGregor-Buckley bout in the future, the big man shut it down immediately. ‘New Mansa’ having read the room, however, had a backup call-out ready. At the post-fight press conference following his latest victory, Buckley called for a fight with welterweight veteran and gatekeeper Gilbert Burns. Speaking about his botched callout of the Irishman, Buckley said that he wanted to take a shot since that would be the biggest fight he could hope to get.

Buckley’s Conor McGregor call-out is good business

While Buckley’s challenge and the uncouth language used for the Irishman’s family may not have gone down well with the MMA world, there were very good reasons for ‘New Mansa’ doing so. McGregor, after all, is gearing up to face Michael Chandler at the top of UFC 303, crucially, in a 170-pound welterweight bout.

And since the sport’s biggest superstar is going to fight at Buckley’s weight division, it makes perfect sense for him to call out McGregor and try to get his own ‘red panty night’, despite the very long odds of them ever possibly fighting. And the strong language, which many rightfully feel crossed a line, seems like a clear attempt to provoke Conor McGregor into giving one of his famously acerbic responses.

What are your thoughts on the whole controversy? Drop your views in the comments.