Joaquin Buckley is upping the ante for Saturday's UFC 328 showdown with Sean Brady.
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Lead UFC play-by-play voice Jon Anik recently told MMA Junkie that he sees pivotal stakes between Buckley (22-7 MMA, 11-5 UFC) and Brady (18-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) going into their welterweight clash on Saturday at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (Paramount+). Anik said he felt the loser of the matchup would be set back "two years" in the title picture, which is getting more competitive by the day.
Buckley said world titles are far from his mind at the moment, though. After seeing his seven-fight winning streak snapped by Kamaru Usman in June, and Brady having his title run shattered by Michael Morales in November, Buckley said he's more worried about keeping his place on the roster.
"My thing is just go out there and perform – that's my thing," Buckley told MMA Junkie. "I don't think about two years being set back. Anybody that loses this fight is getting cut. That's how I look at it. My job is on the line. That's how I see it. That's different. That's my mentality. People like to make the most out of all this stuff because at the end of the day your performance speaks for itself. As long as you're performing you're good. You're going to be straight."
After losing a grappling-heavy fight to Usman, Buckley said he knows Brady is going to come out looking to put him on the mat and try to finish with a submission or ground strikes. "Newmansa" is confident he'll have the appropriate answers this time, and with a win, could potentially set up a big 2026.
"I'm very excited and up for the challenge and up for the test and break that puzzle," Buckley said. "My biggest goal is just to keep fighting. Once I get done with Sean Brady, I want another one. I'm going to have that name ready for everybody once I need to do what I need to go against Sean Brady."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Joaquin Buckley: Loser of UFC 328 fight vs. Sean Brady 'getting cut'