Joaquin Buckley Considers Moving Up to Fight Israel Adesanya After Hate Comments

Joaquin Buckley is considering a move to middleweight to fight admitted hater Israel Adesanya.

There was no known bad blood between Buckley and Adesanya until last weekend. Buckley headlined UFC Atlanta on Saturday against Adesanya’s close friend, Kamaru Usman. Despite a valiant rally in the final round, “New Mansa” suffered a unanimous decision loss against Usman. 

Adesanya later released a video of himself watching UFC Atlanta. “The Last Stylebender” couldn’t stop slamming Buckley right from the walkout. It is apparently Buckley’s excited manner of speech that irritates Adesanya. The former middleweight champ eventually admitted he just hates Buckley.

"I hate this n---a bro. I don’t even use the word ‘hate’ lightly but I hate this n----a bro. Something about him just f----g annoys me. I’m just trying to chill talk. [He’s like,] ‘Hey man, we gotta get this going…[gibberish gibberish].’ Like he’s rapping at me. Every single time. He’s just so f----g annoying. And at one point I literally just walked away while he was talking. Maybe I’m a hater, bro.”

Buckley responded to Adesanya, urging him to redirect his hate towards opponents who have beaten him.

Hate the farmer that took yo belt nigga not me 🤣 #HateTheBoerNigga Stand on business bout Africa or china or wherever the fuck you from bitch 😆 https://t.co/f8vJfIdMjz

— Joaquin New Mansa Buckley (@Newmansa94) June 16, 2025

Buckley also entertained a fan’s proposal of moving up to middleweight to fight Adesanya:

Not a bad idea 😁 https://t.co/KbKg46bzfL

— Joaquin New Mansa Buckley (@Newmansa94) June 16, 2025

Buckley was on a six-fight winning streak before his loss against Usman. Meanwhile, Adesanya lost his title against Sean Strickland and then failed to regain it against Dricus Du Plessis. He has since suffered a stoppage loss against Nassorudine Imavov, putting him on a three-fight skid.