A win against Kamaru Usman changes the trajectory for Joaquin Buckley
The time is now for Buckley
The MMA Notebook runs every Friday.
In this edition:
Joaquin Buckley ready for breakthrough victory
TKO Boxing coming to Netflix in September with blockbuster bout
The future for Merab Dvalishvili includes his past
UFC on ESPN picks
Joaquin Buckley ready for breakthrough victory
Joaquin Buckley fights Kamaru Usman in the headline bout of tomorrow’s UFC on ESPN card.
Buckley, 31, has won his last six fights, most recently in December against Colby Covington. Usman, 38, hasn’t won a fight since 2021. He has dropped his last three (two against Leon Edwards, one at middleweight against Khamzat Chimaev) in the Octagon and desperately needs a win here to climb back into the title picture.
Despite the losing streak, Usman is still ranked in the top five. But that spot will belong to Buckley if he wins this fight, which is significant in a crowded welterweight title scene.
Reigning champ Jack Della Maddalena is expected to make his first title defense against Islam Makhachev, who is moving up from lightweight, but the rest of the top five is crowded. Former champ Belal Muhammad will look for a rematch after losing the belt, though he’ll need another win in order to get it. Sean Brady has won three in a row, with his stock at an all-time high after dismantling Edwards three months ago. The undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov remains a puzzle that no one can solve. And with Ian Machado Garry also within knocking distance, there is a battle among the top of the division.
Getting a title shot after this bout is asking too much for Buckley (21-6), yet a win remains a necessity. Well removed from his iconic title reign, there is every reason to believe Usman (20-4) is on the back nine, and this is a fight that Buckley must control in order to prove he is a legitimate contender.
A knockout win for Buckley would be especially significant. Usman has only been KO’d once in his entire career. That was the night everything changed in the summer of 2022 when Edwards dropped Usman with a career-altering head kick. Prior to that moment, Usman was less than a minute away from winning their fight by unanimous decision and retaining his title, until everything changed dramatically in only an instant.
If Buckley is able to extend Usman’s losing streak, then he should be in line for a fight against either Muhammad, Brady, Rakhmonov, or Garry. A win there would put him in line for a title shot, but that is a trajectory that only takes place if he is victorious against Usman.
TKO Boxing coming to Netflix in September with blockbuster bout
Boxing is coming to Netflix.
Will the UFC be next?
When Canelo Álvarez and undefeated Terence Crawford meet in Las Vegas this September to determine the Unified Super Middleweight Championship, it will air around the globe on Netflix. It will not come at an extra cost, instead available to all Netflix subscribers, which is phenomenal for the sport of boxing.
And Netflix.
The fight between Álvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) and Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) is co-promoted by Turki Alalshikh and Dana White. With UFC looking for a new media rights deal for 2026 and beyond, this serves as an interesting trial run that could determine how major fights are viewed in the future.
Earlier this spring, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos reiterated that he wants “big, breakthrough events.” Monthly UFC pay-per-views certainly fit in that category. That would still leave room for another home for the weekly Fight Night events.
While Netflix shouldn’t be ruled out from that equation, the ethos of the brand isn’t weekly episodic programming. That makes following WWE’s Raw on Netflix every Monday even more fascinating. That still feels out of place considering Netflix is so established as a place for binge-watching instead of weekly appointment-viewing. Of course, WWE is also part of the TKO umbrella.
File this under: to be continued, with a resolution coming perhaps sooner than we think.
The future for Merab Dvalishvili includes his past
Merab Dvalishvili defeated Sean O’Malley last Saturday at UFC 316, winning his thirteenth straight fight. In order to win his fourteenth in a row, it looks like he will have to defeat Cory Sandhagen.
Unfortunately for Sandhagen, he has proven that he is an elite fighter but one unable to win the career-defining fights. We saw that in bouts against Aljamain Sterling, T.J. Dillashaw, Petr Yan, and Umar Nurmagomedov, which were all losses for Sandhagen. A healthy Dvalishvili, who can compete on his feet and on the ground, should also be able to add his name to that list.
If Dvalishvili is able to defeat Sandhagen, then it should be back to the past with a rematch against Umar Nurmagomedov. Their fight in January was superb, with Dvalishvili issuing Nurmagomedov the first loss of his career in an exceptional showing. Dvalishvili won by unanimous decision, and deservedly so: his striking was slightly better, and he led in takedowns, 5-2, as well as control time.
Nurmagomedov represents the most serious threat to Dvalishvili’s title run. But he should have to win another fight before getting a rematch for the belt. Song Yadong would make a lot of sense as an opponent for Nurmagomedov’s next fight, which could even be a title eliminator.
The record for most consecutive victories in the UFC is 16, a feat accomplished by Anderson Silva. For Dvalishvili, the race to 16 has officially begun.
The Pick ‘Em Section
UFC on ESPN welterweight title bout: Kamaru Usman vs. Joaquin Buckley
Pick: Joaquin Buckley
UFC on ESPN women’s flyweight bout: Rose Namajunas vs. Miranda Maverick
Pick: Rose Namajunas
UFC on ESPN middleweight bout: Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Andre Petroski
Pick: Andre Petroski
UFC on ESPN bantamweight bout: Cody Garbrandt vs. Raoni Barcelos
Pick: Raoni Barcelos
UFC on ESPN light heavyweight bout: Alonzo Menifield vs. Oumar Sy
Pick: Alonzo Menifield
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