If there's a silver lining to Joaquin Buckley's current two-fight losing skid, it's the fact that the only other time in his career that happened, he immediately followed it up with a six-fight win streak that placed him firmly in contention for the UFC welterweight title.
Buckley (21-8), a 32-year-old native of St. Louis, looks to return to the win column for the first time since 2024 when he faces streaking Canadian Mike Malott (14-2-1) in a top-10 matchup at 170 pounds headlining Saturday's UFC Fight Night card inside Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.
Buckley's last two fights were decision defeats to a pair of wrestling-based elites in the form of Kamaru Usman and Sean Brady. And despite the fact that the 34-year-old Malott enters holding a distinct ground advantage against Buckley, the explosive finisher known as "New Mansa" is outright campaigning for an exciting striking matchup.
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"I think I match up pretty good, I think this is a fight for me," Buckley told CBS Sports on Tuesday. "I think this is a fight where I can really go out there and do what I love to do, which is to really fight. But I feel like Mike Malott, if he's willing to go through that fire and go through those flames, this should be a really exciting fight for the crowd.
"If he wants to fight a certain type of way, the crowd is going to be very pleased."
Buckley was competitive at times during his five-round loss to Usman in June 2025 where, despite being taken down four times, he never stopped fighting to return to his feet or even to mount some form of offense from his back. But his return from an 11-month layoff in May against Brady at UFC 328 turned out to be a disaster.
Not only did Brady secure four takedowns over three rounds, he controlled Buckley on the ground for 12 of the 15 minutes to claim almost laughably wide scores from the judges of 30-25, 30-25 and 30-27. The result turned out to be a surprise to Buckley after he thought he had addressed what is looked at as a major hole in his skillset.
"I thought I was very, very, very prepared for Sean Brady. I thought I was, to be honest, and Sean Brady came in and did his job," Buckley said. "But I can't be concerned about what the other man is going to do. I just have to put myself in position where I'm always on the offensive. And a great offense is a great defense."
Malott is 7-1 since making his UFC debut in 2022, and he's won four straight -- including a third-round TKO of a retiring Gilbert Burns in April -- since his lone Octagon setback when he gassed out in Round 3 and was stopped by Neil Magny after winning the first two rounds handily.
While Malott certainly doesn't hold the same wrestling credentials as Usman or Brady, his well-rounded skillset has made Saturday's headliner a virtual pick 'em from a betting standpoint as Malott aims to record the biggest victory of his career.
But while Buckley did say he expects to be catapulted back into title contention with a win, he revealed that he's still not over getting denied a welterweight title shot in May 2025 when defending champion Belal Muhammad lost a decision to Jack Della Maddalena, who entered the fight riding a 14-month layoff despite having won his first seven walks to the Octagon.
Buckley was fresh off a 2024 in which he recorded four victories, including impressive stoppages over veterans Vicente Luque, Stephen Thompson and Colby Covington that helped him extend his win streak to six.
"Regardless of what people think about my style or my weakness or my wrestling, I knew that I had the tools to give [current champion] Islam [Makhachev] some real problems," Buckley said. "With him being able to fight for the belt against JDM, I always just go back to 2024. It was crazy! Not only did I go on a four-fight win streak, but knocking out three ranked opponents.
"I don't think a lot of people are doing that. [Carlos] Prates is out here putting people to sleep, too. Don't get it twisted. It's just what I was able to do in that short period of time and be able to create that noise and be on the good end of promoting fights. I just always think about why I didn't get that shot."
Pressed for an answer as to why he believes he didn't earn a title shot, Buckley said he still doesn't know and would still prefer an explanation from UFC brass.
"I just kind of see myself in a position where I always want to be a world champion, but it's not guaranteed that you are going to get that opportunity," Buckley said. "So, my main thing is I can't really focus on somebody that I can't go after. I learned to not go after them until that door gets opened up and they allow me to have access to that moment. I just have to keep knocking them out."
As he prepares for his 18th fight in the UFC since his 2020 debut, which was the same year he scored a viral knockout of Impa Kasanganay that truly put him on the map, Buckley said he's much more focused on enjoying the tiny moments and what's in front of him rather than worrying about the road ahead.
So, what does he expect the fight against Malott to look like? Well, your guess is as good as Buckley's entering Saturday.
"I truly believe for real, for real, that I'm about to find out for myself," Buckley said. "What people are expecting and what people are curious about, I'm curious about the same thing. I [previously] haven't really kind of just allowed things to really just be still and kind of pay attention to things that's in front of me. Now that I've been doing that, I've been seeing a lot of great signs that I'm going to be victorious in this fight. That just gives me a lot of confidence."
