Joaquin Buckley 'Loves the Idea' of Fighting Gilbert Burns at UFC St. Louis

Joaquin Buckley is looking to take big career steps in a short amount of time.

Buckley scored a Round 2 technical knockout win over Vicente Luque in the co-main event at UFC Atlantic City on Saturday, which put him on a three-fight winning streak. Buckley then called for a quick turnaround to fight at UFC St. Louis which goes down at the Enterprise Arena in St. Louis, Missouri, on May 11.

“I can’t wait to get to St. Louis man and do the same thing… That’s the plan. We got to talk to the UFC and see what they're talking about, but yeah, I’m open to fighting in May,” said during Saturday’s post-fight press conference.

UFC St. Louis is currently scheduled to be headlined by a heavyweight tilt between Derrick Lewis and Rodrigo Nascimento. However, Buckley believes the UFC might promote him to the main-event spot for the first five-rounder of his career.

“They might change that. They will switch it up,” he said. “If I fight in St. Louis, they’re going to have to switch it up and put me as the main event. Five rounds.”

While Buckley sounded absolutely confident calling for his main-event spot, he clarified that he has had no word from the Ultimate Fighting Championship regarding the same. However, if he is indeed able to fight in another packed arena in hardly over a month’s time, “New Mansa” would rather be the center of attention on fight night.

“You already know we don’t talk to the UFC, so that’s just a feeling that I have,” Buckley said on "The MMA Hour”.

“If I’m able to fight in St. Louis, I want to make it worth it. I want to come back and put on a show at the highest level, which would be a main event. Instead of being a part of the show, I will be the show. You know, I’d be the reason why everybody is coming to the event. So it’s a just feeling, but just my feelings, yeah.”

Like in his post-fight callout, Buckley refused to name any potential opponents and instead asked Ariel Helwani to suggest one. When Helwani suggested Gilbert Burn, Buckley loved the idea. Buckley also noted that he is now 3-1 against fighters from Kill Cliff FC, where “Durinho” trains.

“I actually love the idea of Gilbert Burns,” said Buckley. “You know right now we’re 3-1 against the team. The first guy that beat me from that team is Logan Storley back at Bellator. He held me down for 15 rounds [minutes]. And after that I knocked out Impa Kasanganay, Andre Fialho and now their boy Vicente. So you know, 3-1 with them.”

Burns, meanwhile, is coming off a third-round knockout loss against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 299 last month.