Joaquin Buckley has a lucrative offer for middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev.
Earlier this year, Chimaev won a UFC title with a dominant display of wrestling and ground control against Dricus du Plessis.
Next up appears to be Nassourdine Imavov, and in a recent training video, Chimaev showed off his striking skills, which evidently struck a nerve for Buckley, who, on Friday, issued a challenge to “Borz” via his Instagram.
“Man, all that striking you doing right there, just to shoot in the first five seconds of the fight is crazy work. So look, Khamzat, this is what I’m going to do for you: if you’re able to stay on your feet for one round, just on your feet, and not use your wrestling, I’ll give you $50,000. Oh, you heard me right, $50,000. And in your country, rubles, what’s that about, 3 million? So you know that’s good money for y’all.
“And guess what, Nassourdine, if you able to match that, that means that’s $100,000. So, Khamzat, take that money, or still show that you’re a punk by using that wrestling in the first five seconds.
“Matter of fact, I’m at the ATM right now, let me go ahead and pull out some money. Matter of fact, I’ve got to get another fight, but when I get one, I’m on.”
“All That Striking Just To Wrestle In First Five Seconds Of Fight So Khamzat I Got 50k If You Stay On Feet For One round 😂 but Stay on your feet the entire round.
“Nassourdine Imavov wanna match it?
“Cool. Now it’s $100,000.“Let’s see if you really believes in your hands.
“#TakeTheThrone#StandAndBang#OneRound”
A former middleweight, Buckley made a habit of calling out Chimaev, but a fight never materialized. Buckley dropped back down to welterweight in 2023, where he put together a six-fight win streak before being set back by Kamaru Usman earlier this year at UFC Atlanta.
