Edmonton — UFC Edmonton welterweight headliner Joaquin Buckley believes he holds “a different kind of weight” when it comes to being a main event player.
Which is why, he believes, he’s headlining a UFC card for the third time this Saturday, even if Canada’s Mike Malott feels it’s “my show,” as he said earlier in the day.
“Mike Malott, it’s just a true story, don’t nobody know you, fam. But that’s the reason you want to fight me, though. So people do get to know who you are,” Buckley (21-8) said on Wednesday, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press during the UFC Edmonton media day. “And I’m not mad at it. Come and get it. But be true to yourself, be honest to yourself. Don’t be saying lies, bro. You’re trying to become the A-side.”
Malott is one of the faces of Canadian MMA. Buckley, meanwhile, has spent over six years with the promotion now. In addition to three main events, he had the 2020 Knockout of the Year. It’s been a long road, one that has Buckley wanting to soak in the moment.
“The journey been long. I ain’t got all day, but I wish I would have documented the journey a long time ago,” he told Cageside Press. “But to be where I am right now, and have three main events, I feel like it’s an opportunity that I have to really soak in. I’ve got to take in the moment.”
Buckley also sees himself as having a responsibility, with so many people watching. “I’ve got a responsibility of how I show up, and what I do and what I say. Along this journey I’ve learned so much about myself, I’ve learned so much about this game, and now I’m just realizing, I don’t just have a gift of fighting, but I have a gift of a voice, and I’m gonna use it now.”
Truth be told, Joaquin Buckley is the underdog at UFC Edmonton, regardless of who the A-Side in the fight is. He’s coming in off a pair of losses, to Sean Brady and Kamaru Usman. Buckley has been in this spot before, however, and bounced back. Those aren’t his biggest losses, however.
“I took losses. This right here, when you talk about fighting and career wise, that’s not my biggest loss. My biggest losses that I had in life are the real triumphs, are the real stories, are the real battles that I got through. This right here is like, I’m privileged to go out there and do what I do whether win, lose, or in between. I get to go out there and show people in the world my gift and my talent, and get to tell them exactly why I’m doing it.”
Watch the full UFC Edmonton media day appearance by Joaquin Buckley above.