Daniel Cormier Discloses Joaquin Buckley Was Almost Given Title Shot Against Belal Muhammad

‘New Mensa’ Joaquin Buckley’s win over Colby Covington at the last Fight Night of 2024 really left an impression on the UFC brass. He didn’t just throw the kitchen sink at the former 185 lb title contender, he continued to smack him with it till the doctor had to step in and stop Colby’s eyelid from falling off. But little did anyone know just how impactful that win was.

Well, now they do, courtesy of UFC commentator Daniel Cormier. During today’s UFC 313 broadcast, Cormier claimed that the 6th ranked welterweight was in consideration for Belal Muhammad’s 170 lb title at UFC 315 later this year in May.

Earlier this year, Jack Della Maddalena was settled on as Belal’s opponent after #1 contender Shavkat Rakhmonov announced his unavailability due to an injury.

Maddalena currently sits on 4th in the rankings and is currently 7-0 in the UFC, which could be why he edged out Buckley (21-6-0), who, until 2023, was struggling to live up to his potential at middleweight.

But since moving to 170 lbs, he has been on a 6 fight winning streak with victories over Stephen Thomson, Vincent Luque, and Covington, to name a few. Besides, his insane power and explosive striking ability would have made him a perfect foil to Belal’s measured and methodical approach to mixed martial arts.

Elaborating on a backstage rumor he had heard, DC said, “I heard [Buckley] almost got it. I know it wasn’t public, but they said it came very close to Joaquin Buckley being the guy.”

 

Given their respective resumes, the decision was anything but clear-cut. Now, the question remains: Did the UFC make the right call? Or did they just put all their money on Maddalena, only to be broken down by Belal?

Belal has a way of bringing down the most exciting and promising of prospects with his unique game plans. Should he dominate, Maddalena, the UFC will have lost the opportunity to let a rising star from a country they are keen on building an audience in (Australia) develop before throwing him to the wolves.

Interestingly, ‘New Mansa‘ had earlier issued a warning to the champ about his aspirations to move up in weight, asserting from personal experience that it wasn’t as easy as it looked.

Buckley’s warning about middleweight power

Belal hasn’t defended his title yet, but with Islam Makhachev wanting to move up to the welterweight division, the champ may be forced to take a gamble at 185 lbs.

Belal and Islam have refused to fight each other, with the former claiming that should Belal want to make a move to 170 lbs, he will find a home elsewhere. The champ had even asserted that he would be fine since he had been training with bigger fighters.

As soon as Buckley heard the news, he knew he had to give the champ a little bit of perspective, of what it’s like to fight with the big boys at 185 lbs.

In a YouTube video, he warned Belal, saying, “If you’re moving up, I’m telling you, bro, they hit a little bit different up there. Trust me, I know. That’s why my ass went down to 170, I swear to god.”

Buckley was also quick to remind Muhammad that his ‘Pillow Hands’ wouldn’t be able to knock middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis down, nor would he be able to take him down and grapple him.

Buckley does not see any way for Belal to overcome the challenge DDP and other top contenders present at 185. Now, while this may be underestimating Belal’s technical brilliance, at honestly, it just looks like a bit of very useful advice.