Kamaru Usman, as he returned to the winning column, exposed one of Joaquin Buckley‘s weaknesses. As much as the community likes to talk about ‘New Mansa’ unmatched power, the 31-year-old could not present any answers to ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’s wrestling at UFC Atlanta. Former double champion Henry Cejudo was shocked to see Buckley’s wrestling, since he had one of the best wrestling coaches, who also has a history with ‘Triple C’.

For those who may not know, Joaquin Buckley’s wrestling coach is Nick Simmons. The individual is a former three-time Big Ten Championships winner and clinched the Pan American Championships title in 2004. Simmons faced off against Henry Cejudo twice at the 2012 US Olympic Team Trials, emerging victorious over the former UFC champion. Following that defeat, Cejudo chose to step away from wrestling and dive into the world of MMA.

The thing that surprised Henry Cejudo the most last weekend was the absence of Nick Simmons in Joaquin Buckley’s corner. After all, ‘New Mansa’ was going up against a wrestling-heavy fighter like Kamaru Usman, and he needed all the help he could have in order to beat the former welterweight champion. During the recent Pound 4 Pound podcast episode, ‘Triple C’ said, “Who’s Buckley’s wrestling coach? I thought it was Nick Simmons… Why isn’t Nick Simmons in the corner?”

Henry Cejudo has warned fighters not to get too comfortable and forget to improve themselves every day in the gym just because they’ve had positive results inside the Octagon. He believes a similar thing happened with Joaquin Buckley, who, despite having a 6-fight win streak prior to last weekend’s fight, failed miserably in the ground game against Kamaru Usman.

“You know what happens, Kamaru, is these guys they get to, because they start winning fights and they start doing it fast fashion, they don’t feel like they should change,” Henry Cejudo added. “It does not work like that. Once you go up against the elite, that’s when you start to figure things out. And that’s exactly what happened with him. He got exposed, and I’m not sure how much wrestling he actually worked.”

Henry Cejudo wasn’t just surprised to see Nick Simmons absent from Joaquin Buckley’s corner, but he also appeared surprised to see him not being there, as Kamaru Usman revealed that the ‘New Mansa’s wrestling coach was actually there in Atlanta.

Kamaru Usman saw Joaquin Buckley’s wrestling coach in Atlanta

Yes, Kamaru Usman claims that Nick Simmons was there in Atlanta last week when the fighters arrived in the capital of Georgia. Even Henry Cejudo claimed the same, in addition to revealing the fact that he even engaged in a conversation with Joaquin Buckley’s coach. Moreover, Simmons surprised ‘Triple C’ when he denied being there for the 31-year-old in his corner during his Fight Night headlining bout, and this, for Cejudo, wasn’t a good sign.

“I thought he’d have Nick in the corner because I did see Nick in Atlanta,” Kamaru Usman told Henry Cejudo. ‘Triple C’ replied, “He was in Atlanta. Yeah, I spoke to him and I asked him like, ‘You’re not in the corner?’ He’s like, ‘No’, but I was like. ‘What?’ That’s when I just knew I’m like, ‘Alright, man. He’s too comfortable.”

Well, this was the biggest fight in Joaquin Buckley’s career, as Kamaru Usman is a certified legend in the game. While he did last the entire five rounds, which impressed the former champion, he still didn’t put in a convincing performance against a 38-year-old veteran. Do you think not having his wrestling coach there in his corner was a bad idea? Drop your comments below.