Joaquin Buckley is comfortable and confident going into Saturday's UFC Fight Night 291 main event against Mike Malott.
Despite losing his past two fights against Kamaru Usman and Sean Brady, another main event has come the way of Buckley (22-8 MMA, 11-6 UFC) against Canada's Malott (14-2-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Paramount+.
Buckley spent the entirety of his preparation in Dallas with Fortis MMA and will have noted coach Sayif Saud as his lead corner. He plans to execute the tactics he has drilled throughout training camp to get himself back on the winning track.
"I'm Not Feeling the Pressures"
"I want to prove to myself what I got," Buckley told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. "I'm not really feeling the pressures of being a main event. I'm not feeling the lights and I'm just going to enjoy doing what I do."
Malott told MMA Junkie this week that he has been surprised by Buckley's uncharacteristic restraint in the media leading up to the fight. Buckley took another stance, however, claiming that it is not his job to build a fight that is taking place on his opponent's home soil. His duty, instead, is to go win the fight.
"If he's talking, I'm talking," Buckley said. "I'll be the only person talking. I'm talking to myself so that's the only issue. I could say a lot about him. I have a lot built up. But it's his home. This is supposed to be something that you are supposed to be looking forward to and something that you need to be bringing out a lot of people for, because at the end of the day I'm in your home territory. So you need to promote this a little heavier. Not me.
"It's going to be a great bounce back. No scouting report on him. He's just a pretty face. He's a gorgeous guy. 'Proper' Mike Malott."
A Familiar Comeback Trail
Buckley, 32, has not lost consecutive fights since 2022 when he dropped two straight at middleweight, prompting his drop to 170 pounds. He put together a six-fight winning streak after that skid, and he wants to repeat that turnaround starting with Malott, 34, at UFC Fight Night 291.
"Right now he's in my way," Buckley said. "I've got bigger and better things that I'm trying to do and I feel like nobody has the mindset like myself. But at the end of the day, Buck got to get a win. Buck just got a win. That's it.
"Somebody definitely is not going to see the judges. Somebody is definitely going to be laid out flat, looking at the lights. And at the end of the day, that person is going to be the one who asked for it."
