Joaquin Buckley had no qualms about accepting a short-notice clash against Vicente Luque, as he has seemingly been preparing for the fight for a while now.
Buckley (17-6) is scheduled to meet Luque (22-9) in the co-main event at UFC Atlantic City at Boardwalk Hall on March 30. Going into arguably the toughest matchup of his career, Buckley is glad for the opportunity to be able to prove his mettle.
“It feels good. This is something I have been asking for and shouting about via social media for a long time. To get that big name, to get somebody that I feel like will really get the respect that it deserves with all the work I’ve been putting in. So now that I get the fight I asked for, it’s a beautiful situation,” Buckley said during UFC Atlantic City media day.
Buckley accepted the matchup on a little more than a month’s notice, replacing Sean Brady, who pulled out due to an injury. “New Mansa” revealed that he had no issues accepting the fight on short notice as he has been preparing for Luque since December.
Luque was scheduled to fight Ian Garry at UFC 296 in December but the bout fell through as Garry pulled out due to a case of pneumonia. Buckley was self-admittedly ready to replace Garry or step up if anyone pulled out from a scheduled tilt between Shavkat Rakhmonov and Stephen Thompson. Rakhmonov vs. Thompson came to fruition with the Kazakh submitting “Wonderboy” in Round 2. And although “New Mansa” never got the call from the Ultimate Fighting Championship brass to replace Garry, he kept himself in fighting shape.
“What’s short notice to you?... You know this fight came right on time, people didn’t know, I was preparing for this fight in December already,” said the 29-year-old. “I had picked Shavkat [Rakhmonov] and ‘Wonderboy’ [Stephen Thompson] and I had picked Ian Garry and Vicente [Luque] to be the fight that if anybody pulled out that I’d be ready for it. And when that did happen, when Ian Garry had his little tummy gate, I was like, ‘Alright bet, let’s get it.’ But Sean Shelby didn’t reach out to me, my management didn’t reach back out to me so I’m like, ‘Ah whatever, but let’s stay ready just in case you know, anything.’ And when I got the call for March 30 this weekend, I was more than prepared to take it because I was already training for it.”
Asked about the possibility of a future clash against Brady, Buckley said:
“After I beat Vicente Luque the way I’m going to beat him, I don’t think Sean Brady [is] going to want to fight me, but we’ll see.”
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