Joaquin Buckley’s last loss in MMA came in brutal fashion when he stepped into the cage with Sean Strickland’s teammate. This Saturday, Joaquin Buckley takes on his toughest and most important test to date when he clashes against former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman at UFC Atlanta.

Kamaru Usman and Joaquin Buckley make weight for their main event bout at UFC Atlanta.

Joaquin Buckley reveals why he thinks Islam is scared of him: "Islam is only moving up because he had the right opportunity to fight the right person. Even when Belal was champ, I believe if he thought he could beat Belal, he would move up. But stylistically, it would’ve been a… pic.twitter.com/qtEMFodxva

Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) relinquished his UFC lightweight title after a record four title defenses for a move up to 170 pounds. He is expected to challenge Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight title later in the year.

Buckley (21-6 MMA, 11-4 UFC) is looking to emerge as No. 1 contender when he takes on former champion Kamaru Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) in Saturday's UFC on ESPN 69 (ESPN, ESPN+) headliner at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

After Buckley suffered a difficult loss to Kevin Holland, he rebounded in style with one of the most instantly iconic knockouts in the history of the UFC. Atlanta, we are taking over! 💥 #UFCAtlanta goes down this Saturday [ LIVE on @ESPNPlus | 10pmET ] pic.twitter.com/boUoXWa473