Joaquin Buckley, like anyone else in the fighting realm, wants to fight for the championship belt. And for that, he has been calling Kamaru Usman out for quite some time. Well, things did turn out in Buckley’s favor, now that he got the chance to battle the former welterweight champion at UFC Atlanta. But will he get a title shot if he wins against the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’? ‘New Mansa’ certainly thinks so. However, there is a hurdle that has the potential to counter his stance in the title picture. And that is linked to the fight between Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315. But how? 

Taking to his Instagram profile, ‘New Mansa’ shared a video that makes his allegiance known. Therein, he claimed that he was always laser-focused and liked to prepare for his next move. And this time, his next move lies in the condition that he can beat Usman at UFC Atlanta. He said, “So y’all already knew once I beat Kamaru Usman, my mentality and where I wanna go is get that belt.” But according to Buckley, that can happen only if ‘Remember The Name’ succeeds in defending his belt against Della Maddalena. And the reason? It points to Dana White’s plans. 

Buckley continued, “Now, pray Belal is the one that wins, right? Because if he doesn’t win, if JDM wins, I already know the UFC got different moves that they’re trying to do. You understand? So, I’m hoping Belal wins. And once he wins, knock his a– out, and then go ahead and proceed to be the biggest star in the UFC.” He reflected on what Eddie Hearn said about being unable to name even 6 UFC superstars. Nevertheless, it was Buckley’s moment to shine right now. He continued, “So I really feel like, man, this is my opportunity to really show up, and show well. But yet again, I gotta go out to that cage, man, get my hand raised. But not only get my hand raised, go out there and dominate this man, and get the knockout that I know that I can get.” 

Of course, Muhammad and Buckley commenced their war of words long before UFC 315 was announced. There was even a time when Muhammad dissed Buckley for calling out Usman. The ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ was a sidelined fighter back then. But now, as the fight between them has a chance of materializing, the Palestinian champion hinted at moving to the middleweight division.

Joaquin Buckley warns Belal Muhammad against moving to the middleweight realm

The welterweight champion doesn’t wish to fight Islam Makhachev. Well, Makhachev has expressed his desire to move to the welterweight division and fight for a second belt. But he couldn’t fight Muhammad, because both were pretty close associates. So, the only way the Dagestani champion could achieve his dream was if Muhammad vacated his belt and went on to Dricus Du Plessis’ kingdom. But Buckley wasn’t a fan of the idea. 

Taking to his YouTube channel, ‘New Mansa’ said, “Belal Muhammad talking about he wants to move up, he could be double champ. Belal, I’m just going to warn you right now: You don’t have the tools nor the weapons to beat a person like Dricus. You’re not going to be able to take buddy down. I’m just being honest with you, bro. You’re not going to be able to take buddy down, nor will you be able to knock him out with them pillow hands.”

He pointed out that no matter what Muhammad thought, there were a lot of holes in his game. And Buckley could see them pretty clearly. There was no way Muhammad could stop Du Plessis, according to ‘New Mansa’. He was simply going to keep on coming. And since he believed that the Palestinian didn’t have the weapons needed to stop ‘Stillknocks’, Du Plessis would be the one to top him. So now, Muhammad seemingly has two options – fight Du Plessis, or fight Buckley, after beating Della Maddalena. 

So do you think ‘New Mansa’ can get a shot for the welterweight title against Muhammad? Can it happen before the WW champ moves to the middleweight division? Or will he have to fight Della Maddalena for the belt? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.