Kamaru Usman heard Joaquin Buckley say his name and he has an answer for the up-and-coming welterweight contender.
Following his win over Colby Covington at UFC Tampa this past Saturday, Buckley used his post-fight interview time to call out a number of 170-pound notables, including Usman, Leon Edwards, and Belal Muhammad, with Usman standing out from the pack.
On his Pound 4 Pound podcast, Usman responded to the callout, emphasizing that he’s open to fighting Buckley and anyone else, but it will be on his schedule.
“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.”
Kamaru Usman responds to Joaquin Buckley callout at UFC Tampa - MMA Fighting