UFC CEO Dana White has announced that Joaquin Buckley will face Nursulton Ruziboev on May 11 in the welterweight co-main event of UFC St. Louis.
Well, Joaquin Buckley’s got his wish. Sorta.
Dana White, the big boss of UFC, dropped the news on Wednesday. Buckley’s up against Nursulton Ruziboev on May 11. It’s the welterweight co-main event at UFC St. Louis.
Buckley’s a rising star in the welterweight division. He’s a St. Louis native, too. After his March 30 win over Vicente Luque, he kept asking to fight in the main event of his hometown card. He even made his case at the UFC 300’s pre-fight press conference.
Buckley’s record? 18-6. He’s been on a roll, winning three UFC fights in a row since he moved from middleweight back to the 170-pound division. He’s knocked out Luque and Andre Fialho, and scored a unanimous decision over Alex Morono. Right now, MMA Fighting ranks him as the No. 13 welterweight in the world.
But he’s not resting on his laurels. He’s making a quick turnaround to fight Ruziboev (34-8-2). Ruziboev’s moving down from the middleweight division to take him on. He’s 2-0 in the UFC, with first-round knockouts of Brunno Ferreira and Sedriques Dumas. Both fights were at 185 pounds.
Ruziboev’s latest win over Dumas? That was on the same March 30 card. So, both co-headliners are meeting at UFC St. Louis with just a six-week break.
UFC St. Louis? It’s happening at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The main event? A heavyweight face-off between Derrick Lewis and Rodrigo Nascimento.