Joaquin Buckley thinks Shavkat Rakhmonov is overrated.
Buckley (19-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) takes pride in calling himself the Kill Cliff FC killer, after wins over Impa Kasanganay, Andre Fialho, and Vicente Luque.
With Jack Della Maddalena sidelined due to injury, Buckley called out Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) for a fight in August, but he was immediately dismissed by the undefeated contender. Rakhmonov is touted to potentially be welterweight champion Belal Muhammad’s first title defense, and Buckley picks Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) to beat him.
“First off, I’ve shouted out that Shavkat has never been as good as people claim,” Buckley told Inside Fighting. “The reason I say that with so much confidence is because when he had the opportunity to fight me, he didn’t take it. When the (Jack Della Maddalena) fight pulled out for him, I told him I will be willing to fight him in the same place, on the same date he was going to fight JDM and he declined. Guys don’t realize you cannot wait on an opportunity to get a title. You have to just keep putting in work – because the UFC makes those decisions, you don’t.
“Let’s say I fought Shavkat and he happened to win and beat me. Boom: Easy. No doubt, right there they probably would have gave it to him, but because he knew there was a risk that I’ve beat the majority of his teammates that he trains with, that yes, that we’ve got the number on the whole Kill Cliff clan over there. So I just don’t think Shavkat is as good as people claim. But you know, I feel like he definitely going to get exposed eventually. If that’s not by me, that’s definitely going to be by Belal.”
After winning his first four fights at welterweight in the UFC, Buckley will look to emerge as a top contender when he faces Stephen Thompson (17-7-1 MMA, 12-7-1 UFC) Oct. 5 in the featured prelim of UFC 307 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.
