Israel Adesanya takes Joaquin Buckley to task

As far as former UFC champion Israel Adesanya is concerned, Joaquin Buckley can just keep on walking.

Adesanya spoke about Buckley during a video posted to his YouTube channel. Over the weekend, Buckley saw his six-fight win streak come to an end at the hands of Kamaru Usman at UFC Atlanta.

The ‘hate’ between Adesanya and Buckley has been festering for quite some time now. And it would appear as if UFC matchmakers might have something to work with.

“I hate this (expletive), bro,” Adesanya said (thanks to MMA Fighting for the quotes). “I don’t even use the word ‘hate’ lightly but I hate this (expletive). Something about him just (expletive) annoys me.”

While it is quite obvious Adesanya has no love for Buckley, he is impressed by a 2020 knockout of the year he delivered on Impa Kasanganay.

“The coolest thing about him is that kick,” Adesanya said. “I respect that.”

Buckley, who went the full five rounds with Usman, responded to the comments on social media while taking aim at Adesanya for dropping his title.

Buckley also noted that it is “not a bad idea” to move up to middleweight and compete against Adesanya.