UFC St. Louis has added an absolute banger and it’s the new co-main event of the upcoming Fight Night. Dana White took to social media tonight and announced that the 11th ranked welterweight Joaquin Buckley (18-6) will be taking on Nusulton Ruziboev (34-8-2) who will be moving down from middleweight.
The bout comes together after Buckley has been showing up wherever Dana White was and asking him for a fight in front of his hometown. Buckley made it clear to the promotion that he would fight anyone as long as he got a fight on the STL card and he’s sticking true to his word taking on the dangerous Ruziboev.
Ruziboev is currently riding a ten-fight winning streak including winning his first two fights inside the octagon. Ruziboev was considered a contender for the rankings at 185, but he’s moving down to welterweight for the first time since he’s been in the UFC. What makes his winning streak so impressive is the fact that he’s finished all ten of the opponents in the first round.
UFC St. Louis
Joaquin Buckley lost his UFC debut to Kevin Holland but then really found his groove going 5-1 over his next six fights. Included during that stretch was one of the greatest knockouts you’ll ever see against PFL champion Impa Kasanganay. However, after back-to-back losses, Buckley decided to make a change.
He decided to move down to the welterweight division and it looks the decision was a fantastic one. Since moving down to 170, Buckley is a perfect 3-0 which has earned him the 11th spot in the UFC rankings. His most recent win was incredibly impressive as he stopped Vicente Luque in the second round of their co-main event last month in Atlantic City.
This is such a great matchup for the fans and for UFC St. Louis. Someone’s winning streak is going to come to an end and someone is going to be challenging the top ten at 170 with a win on May 11th.