It has been months since Joaquin Buckley forced the cage-side doctor to stop the fight against Colby Covington. But the talks of the injuries that ‘Chaos’ sustained at the event still make the rounds in the fighting realm. Not only did ‘New Mansa’ show his strength against the former UFC interim welterweight champion but also left Covington with a massive cut on his face that kept bleeding in the most gruesome way. And that was something that put Buckley on the list of dangerous fighters. As Joe Rogan certainly liked to put it. 

During the event that showed the war between Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland at UFC 312, Rogan sat down with Brendan Schaub, Bryan Callen, and Matt Serra for an episode of JRE Fight Companion. And during the conversation, Callen shone some light on Covington’s broken leg. No doubt, it was a pretty bad break, even though it was the cut to the face that pushed the doctor to call it quits in the 3rd round. 

And the UFC color commentator had to agree. But his agreement came with a heap of praise for the #6 welterweight contender. He said, “How good did Joaquin Buckley looked against Colby! Joaquin Buckley is a problem! He’s that good. He is f—— dangerous at 170, and he’s got crazy cardio at 170.” Well, it wasn’t just Rogan. All three of his guests agreed. But they also wanted to see Buckley fight Ian Garry, as was the initial plan. 

While Joe Rogan was greatly impressed by ‘New Mansa’, Dana White had a different opinion about the stoppage at the bout. Well, the world of mixed martial arts wanted to watch a violent and bloodied fight. And Covington vs. Buckley gave the world just that. The only problem, according to White, was the duration. Let’s see what the UFC CEO had to say about Buckley’s TKO victory over Covington in UFC Tampa, shall we?

Joe Rogan’s praise goes sideways with Dana White’s reaction to Joaquin Buckley’s win

During the post-fight press conference for UFC Tampa, White revealed that he was actually curious to witness the fight go for all 5 rounds. But the stoppage was something that he did not agree with. He pointed out that had it been in Las Vegas, the fight wouldn’t have been stopped. After all, White seemed to have immense faith in Colby Covington. But defeating the former interim welterweight champion was nothing short of a proud achievement. 

The UFC head honcho said, “Yeah listen, you go in there and beat Colby Covington, it’s a big deal. Love him or hate him, the guy’s a dog, f—— tough as nails, took big shots to the body, big shots to the head that would have knocked a lot of people out. Colby’s durable and tough, but when you get cut, anything can happen.”

Now, Buckley is brought into the talks about a bout against the #2 welterweight contender, Shavkat Rakhmonov. Needless to say, this matchup has the potential to propel ‘New Mansa’ even higher in the UFC athlete rankings. Who knows, he can even rise and get a shot at the welterweight title if he defeats Rakhmonov. No matter what anyone thought, the records have put Buckley as the winner at UFC Tampa. And that makes him deserving of a shot at the title soon enough. 

But does the big win mean that ‘New Mansa’ can go up and fight a top 5 welterweight? What do you think would happen if Covington and Buckley fought once again? Drop down to the debate section and keep the conversation flowing.