UFC fighter Joaquin Buckley says he prefers ONE Championship rules due to practical limitations (Exclusive)

Joaquin Buckley recently claimed he prefers the ruleset of ONE Championship and admitted that he'd like to see some fighting moves that are currently illegal in the UFC be legalized.

In a recent exclusive interview with Andrew Whitelaw for Sportskeeda MMA, 'New Mansa' discussed the practicality of ONE Championship's rules and stated that he'd like professional prizefighting to be as close to actual fighting as possible.

When asked if he'd like to see headbutts be legalized in the UFC, Buckley answered in the affirmative and explained his point of view:

"Realistically, I feel like the ONE is doing it correctly. They ain't got the headbutts but to be able to football kick somebody who's on the floor playing around. Just stomps. Knee to a grounded opponent. It's just stuff like that."

He continued:

"Let it be as close to fighting as possible, without it being too barbaric. I don't want to see biting... eye-gouging... shots to the groin. But the headbutts and kick to the knees... I want to see all that."

Watch the interview below (2:30):

Joaquin Buckley will make his welterweight debut against Andre Fialho at UFC Vegas 73 in Las Vegas today. The 29-year-old Missouri native is on a two-fight losing slide and will be looking for a decisive victory against the Portuguese to redeem himself.

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Joaquin Buckley names a former opponent he would like to rematch

In the same interview, Joaquin Buckley stated that he'd like to fight Kevin Holland again in a rematch.

'New Mansa' made his UFC debut against Holland at UFC Vegas 6 in August 2020 and was defeated by 'Trailblazer' via third-round knockout. Buckley accepted the fight on short notice and was knocked out with a vicious straight right hand.

Joaquin Buckley redeemed himself in his next fight against Impa Kasanganay, knocking out his opponent with a once-in-a-lifetime spinning back kick that won the 'Knockout of the Year' award in 2020. He went 3-1 in his next four outings before losing two consecutive bouts against Nassourdine Imavov and Chris Curtis.

In the same exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Joaquin Buckley was asked which former opponent he'd like to rematch. He answered:

"Everybody knows that, Kevin Holland. Me and him is a main event type of fight but he's been doing his thing. So I got to do my thing at 170 [pounds] and hopefully, we can meet in the middle. I got nothing but love and respect for Kevin Holland."

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