Copyright sportskeeda
It appears Joaquin Buckley was once set to lock horns with Alex Pereira, and the only reason the fight didn't take place was reportedly an issue on 'Poatan's' side.While he is now one of the top names at welterweight, 'New Manza's' UFC career started at middleweight, where he compiled a mixed record, including the iconic spinning back kick win over Impa Kasanganay.Interestingly, the 31-year-old almost fought Pereira in 2022, while the Brazilian was coming up in the 185-pound division. In a recent YouTube video, Buckley reminisced about his manager once calling him up about the short-notice fight, all distressed.Buckley remembers how he immediately guessed it was against Pereira, and dared to accept the challenge only for 'Poatan' and his team to reportedly turn it down:"It was my manager calling me back, he sound all distressed... he was like. 'Buckley, I really don't like this fight for us... He is a good fighter, not a really big name... I said, 'Is it Alex Pereira?' He said, 'How the f**k you know that?'... I said, 'I'm a dog, so regardless of what we do, I've got to eat.' He said, 'f**k it, let's run it.'"Buckley added:"So I called Brian back and said, 'Man, it's a go.' He said, 'I got some good news and I've got some bad news... the good news is that you look good for the promotion... because nobody else wanted to fight this man, but the bad news is he won't be able to take this fight because his coaches or himself said he wouldn't be ready in time'... To be honest with you, I was planning on knocking that man out, too."Check out Joaquin Buckley explaining once being matched up with Alex Pereira below:When Joaquin Buckley said Alex Pereira was making MMA look "stupid"As Joaquin Buckley sees it, a kickboxing specialist like Alex Pereira dominating in the UFC is a telltale sign that the promotion is suffering from a shortage of quality talent.While Buckley respects 'Poatan's' achievement, as he sees it, the Brazilian, who shifted to MMA mid-way through his combat sports career, should not be able to beat a quality, lifelong mixed martial artist. In a 2024 interview with Parry Punch, 'New Manza' said:"I ain't gonna lie to you, bro. I don't think the UFC got quality. I think we got quantity, if anything. No disrespect to Alex Pereira... but how is he able to [dominate] right? [It makes MMA look] stupid... Alex Pereira might be working his a** off every day to get there, but yet again, when you have somebody that has solely trained in MMA, and you know his whole goal as he got started was to be a UFC fighter, but then you got another guy that's coming over, transitioning from a different sports still able to beat you, that's a problem." [0:03 seconds into the interview]
