July 2023 was indeed a heartbreak season for the new welterweight champion, Jack Della Maddalena. Why? It was because he had 2 back-to-back cancellations on 8th July 2023. He was first slated to fight Sean Brady, but things didn’t work out. He was then pitted against Josiah Harrell, and even that didn’t materialize. Finally, he fought Bassil Hafez the next week and maintained his undefeated streak. However, before Della Maddalena got the chance to fight Hafez, he had the opportunity to take on Joaquin Buckley.
Yes, you read that right! There was a time when ‘New Mansa’ and Della Maddalena agreed to fight each other. Let’s take a look at how it happened. Buckley had a brief interaction with the Australian welterweight star during the fight week and talked about the unfortunate pullout that left him without an opponent. But the UFC was already making moves to save the event and got Della Maddalena an opponent to compete against.
And that was none other than ‘New Mansa’. Buckley said, “Yeah, man. But they just called me, bro. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They try to pull me up on you last minute. But you too good, you heard me. But you know what though? I’m thinking about Australia!” Della Maddalena agreed, without wasting a single moment. However, he wanted the fight to happen a bit sooner. He pitched in if Buckley wanted to fight the coming week.
Well, it was a bit more unfortunate, as Buckley claimed that he wasn’t ready. He said, “I ain’t ready yet. I’m eating. You eating good… Why rush it? For the fans, right? For the fans. We can make this s— big, you know. That’s what I’m talking about. So that’s a word?” And the duo clasp their hands together and promise to make the fight happen. Now, it seems like there’s a chance for the bout to actually happen. The only condition is for Buckley to defeat Kamaru Usman at UFC Atlanta.
This interaction resurfaced when Full Send MMA brought it back to the headlines through their Instagram profile. In the caption, they wrote, “We almost had UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena and number 7 ranked UFC welterweight Joaquin Buckley on a week’s notice! Is that a fight we see for the UFC welterweight title down the line?” Soon, the fighting community began talking about the matchup in the comments section. Let’s see what the fans had to say.
Fight fans weigh in on the matchup between Joaquin Buckley and Jack Della Maddalena
Most of the fans commended ‘New Mansa’ for his challenge. One of the fans claimed, “Buckley be calling out the right dudes, real recognize real.” Needless to say, it was a matchup with high potential to entertain the fighting realm. And the fans knew it pretty well. One of the comments read, “I don’t wanna see my goats fight man but it would also be so fire.”
Meanwhile, some of the fans believed that Buckley played a smart move by not taking up the fight on just 7 days’ notice. One of the fans commented, “That’s a (fire emoji) fight. Buckley is smart for not taking it on a week’s notice back then.” Another fan added, “Buckley smart for not taking JDM on a weeks notice, waiting for a better weight cut and a better promotion for the fight.”
MMA: UFC Fight Night – Tampa: Covington vs Buckley Dec 14, 2024 Tampa, Florida, UNITED STATES Joaquin Buckley blue gloves reacts after the fight against Colby Covington red gloves at Amalie Arena. Tampa Amalie Arena Florida UNITED STATES, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xNathanxRayxSeebeckx 20241215_szo_fo8_0606
While the praise for ‘New Mansa’ continued to rise, there were a few fans who believed that Buckley wouldn’t be able to win against Della Maddalena. The reason was simple. The welterweight champion was a pretty technical fighter. One of the fans weighed in on this and wrote, “JDM is to technical for Buckley im sorry.” On the other hand, some fans believed that there was no way Buckley was going to win against Usman at UFC Atlanta. One of the comments read, “Buckley def ain’t getting no title shot after Usman beats him.”
What are your thoughts on the matchup between Buckley and Della Maddalena? Do you think Buckley can defeat ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ and get a title shot next? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
The post Kamaru Usman Forgotten as Joaquin Buckley vs. Jack Della Maddalena Past Challenge Leaves MMA World Divided appeared first on EssentiallySports.