Usman has to heal.
Kamaru Usman vs Joaquin Buckley?
Joaquin Buckley headlined UFC’s final event of 2024, UFC Tampa, last weekend. Buckley defeated Colby Covington on that night, then proceeded to call out former UFC Welterweight Champion, Kamaru Usman. On his Pound 4 Pound podcast, Usman responded to the callout, saying that he will fight Buckley and anyone else, but it will be on his time.
I feel like the hot chick at the bar, everybody wants a piece,” Usman said. “It’s almost like no one’s listening to what I’m saying. No one’s getting what I’m saying. I don’t care who it is. Shavkat [Rakhmonov], Belal, Ian [Machado Garry], Buckley, ‘JDM’ [Jack Della Maddalena], I don’t care who it is. One thing that I won’t do because I’ve done it for so long and too much, which is partially why I’m having to take this layoff, is compete when I’m not ready. When I am healthy, I don’t care who it is.
Usman continued on, speaking about what he saw from Buckley’s performance against Covington.
I remember watching the Buckley fight and I was drained from the whole card, but I remember watching going, ‘Oh, I like that fight. I really like that matchup,’ Covington took him down a couple of times. Obviously, me and Covington utilize the wrestling differently and how we approach fights. Most people know when I take you down, you’re not getting up unless I want you to get up, and so it’s different.
I remember watching the fight and I’m going Buckley did great. First of all, shout out to Buckley, he did great for being able to go through a guy like Covington. With Covington having that long layoff, I don’t know how he’s going to show up, but everybody knows as the fight gets later, Covington gets a little bit more comfortable, so it was going to be how quick he was able to get the ring rust off and get going. Buckley didn’t really allow him to do that.
Kamaru Usman has had some issues with his knees in the past and other nagging injuries that he wants to get cleared up. There is currently no known timetable for his return.
H/T MMAFighting
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