This month’s entry in the collection of critical welterweight matchups that have been taking place as of late features former champion Kamaru Usman returning to action and the division in a clash with surging contender Joaquin Buckley.
Saturday will be Usman’s first appearance since UFC 294 in October 2023, when he ventured up to middleweight on short notice and dropped a majority decision to impending title challenger Khamzat Chimaev. After winning each of his first 15 appearances inside the Octagon, the 38-year-old former titleholder makes the walk this weekend on a three-fight slide, eager to get himself moving in the right direction again while showing he’s still a threat in the weight class he once ruled.
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Buckley has used the last two years to transform from a solid, but undersized, middleweight to a bona fide contender in the 170-pound weight class, amassing six wins in as many starts. Last year alone, “New Mansa” posted victories over Vicente Luque, Nursulton Ruziboev, Stephen Thompson, and Colby Covington, earning finishes in three of those four victories.
This was the matchup Buckley lobbied for following his win over Covington in the final UFC bout of 2024 and one that makes perfect sense from a divisional standpoint. Usman needs to prove that he can still hang with the emerging set currently storming their way to the top of the division, while Buckley could use another high-profile victory in order to hold his place in the growing queue of contenders.
We’re going to know a great deal more about where each of these men fit within the hierarchy once the dust settles in this one, and have an even greater sense of how things within the division could potentially line up in the back half of the year, as well.
