Preview: UFC Atlanta ‘Usman vs. Buckley’

The Ultimate Fighting Championship lands in Atlanta for the first time in over half a decade for what shapes up to be a solid affair. The top two UFC Atlanta fights carry the day here, particularly a welterweight headliner that feels like an excellently-matched crossroads fight, with former champion Kamaru Usman looking to prove his continued relevance against the surging Joaquin Buckley. In the co-main, former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas looks to regain some momentum against flyweight prospect Miranda Maverick in a big opportunity for both women to put on a potential showcase. Past that, save former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt being in action against Raoni Barcelos, this main card has a clear focus on the UFC's heavier weight classes; top light heavyweight prospect Oumar Sy gets a big test against Alonzo Menifield, and Edmen Shahbazyan and Mansur Abdul-Malik are middleweights that still have some degree of prospect shine while looking for an impressive victory.

Welterweights
Kamaru Usman (20-4) vs. Joaquin Buckley (21-6)

Odds: Buckley (-258), Usman (+210)

An excellent bit of crossroads matchmaking headlines here, as Usman looks to re-announce himself after dropping off the radar to a surprising degree. It's now been three years since Usman was the clear king of the welterweight division and making a case for himself as an all-time great, living up to every bit of his hype as a prospect and then some. A standout wrestler, Usman always had his ability to impose a crushing grind on his opponents in his back pocket, which he leaned on in his rise up the division -- a rise that included early wins over Leon Edwards and Sean Strickland that continue to age well. Usman eventually tired of his reputation as a grinder and had a breakout performance of sorts against Sergio Moraes in 2017, a contest where Usman clearly abandoned his usual gameplan and hunted for a knockout, succeeding with a particularly brutal first-round finish. That was enough for the promotion to start taking notice of "The Nigerian Nightmare," and from there it was off to the races; Usman earned one-sided decision wins over Demian Maia and Rafael dos Anjos to announce himself as top contender, then made things look easy to take the belt from Tyron Woodley early in 2019. After that, Usman racked up five defenses and looked like one of the best fighters in the sport, even when mired in rematches against Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal; his first title defense against Covington saw Usman score a late knockout in a fast-paced striking war that went against type, and he closed the door in much quicker -- and more definitive fashion -- by obliterating Masvidal early in their rematch. Come 2022, it looked like a fight against Edwards would wind up as successful title defense number six, particularly once Edwards seemed to mentally break down the stretch -- but then Edwards hit the kick to the head that would define his career, scoring the massive comeback in the literal last minute of the fight and becoming the unlikely new welterweight champion. And frankly, the division moved on surprisingly quickly from Usman, particularly after he was unable to win the belt back in an immediate rematch; the now-former champion put in a game effort, but Edwards was in what might've been the sharpest form of his career and turned Usman back. That marks Usman's last fight at 170 pounds, as his lone outing in the last two years was a late-notice bout against Khamzat Chimaev up at middleweight, which was another game loss; Chimaev got off to his usual dominant start to clearly win the first round, but things wound up about even from there as Usman continued to prove his physical strength. Even at his peak, a lot of people doubted Usman's staying power, particularly thanks to some nagging knee injuries that have only become more of a narrative with age - but he gets a big chance to turn back the clock and wind up back in the title picture with a win over Buckley.

Buckley was one of the rash of late-notice signings that came to the UFC in 2020, and "New Mansa" was one of the most promising of the bunch. Then a middleweight prospect, Buckley had a fairly-rudimentary game but clearly impressed due to a rare combination of horsepower and cardio; Buckley didn't have many ideas beyond rushing at his opponent, but he'd keep swinging with knockout power for three rounds. He got picked apart by Kevin Holland in his UFC debut, but Buckley suddenly became one of the UFC's breakout stars in his sophomore fight, uncorking a spinning back kick knockout of Impa Kasanganay that ranks among the greatest highlights in the sport's history. With that clip going viral and Buckley always being willing to compete whenever possible, both parties did well to capitalize on Buckley's momentum and keep him consistently in front of viewers -- but he got stunningly knocked out by Alessio Di Chirico early in 2021, and from there he went back to the middleweight pack. Buckley eventually got to the fringes of the middleweight rankings before two straight losses convinced him to cut down to welterweight, which has proven to be a successful gambit; Buckley's game is still generally the same it's been throughout his UFC career, but he's somehow managed to carry both that power and gas tank down to his new weight class, making him even more of a terror for his opponents. 2024 was the true breakout year for Buckley at 170 pounds, as he's been one of the fresh faces dispatching the old guard of the division; he might have had some rough moments against opponents like Vicente Luque, Stephen Thompson and Covington, but Buckley's power and persistence wound up finishing each of those men within three rounds. That figures to be the clear dynamic here, since Usman has a lot of potential outs to slow Buckley down or even find a finish of his own; Buckley's offensive wrestling, a more effective weapon for him down at welterweight. This figures to be a non-factor against someone with the technique and sheer physical strength of Usman, and Buckley's tendency to get wild in hunting for the knockout could result in Usman landing his own fight-ending punch. But while Usman's chances here do seem to be quite underrated, it's hard not to agree with the conventional wisdom now that the former champion is 38; given five rounds to work, it seems likely that Buckley is going to catch Usman off-guard and obliterate him at some point. The pick is Buckley via third-round knockout.

Jump To »
Usman vs. Buckley
Namajunas vs. Maverick
Shahbazyan vs. Petroski
Garbrandt vs. Barcelos
Abdul-Malik vs. Brundage
Menifield vs. Sy
The Prelims