Joaquin Buckley has linked up with former opponent Kamaru Usman at Kill Cliff FC ahead of his UFC 328 showdown with grappling specialist Sean Brady.
Buckley accepted an invitation from Usman and traveled to South Florida to train with the former foe who defeated him by unanimous decision in June, a bout where Usman scored four takedowns and nearly 13 minutes of control time.
"Shout out to Usman for calling out and reaching out to me," Buckley said. "Just letting me know that I can come out and learn a couple things from him. For the team to embrace me and welcome me with open arms, I really am appreciative. Shout out to Kill Cliff, shout out to Usman. It was a beautiful situation."
Buckley described the decision to work with Usman and coach Henri Hooft as straightforward preparation for Brady. "It was an easy decision. Why not take the opportunity with someone who beat you, or the team that beat you and try to lean something that you might not have known? A lot of things that my coach had shown me pretty much got confirmed from Usman and from Henri Hooft. So it was good confirmation that what I'm working now is exactly what I need to work on for this fight. I'm glad I took the opportunity to go out there."
Buckley vs. Brady was originally slated as a five-round main event at UFC Fight Night 274 on April 25 at Meta APEX in Las Vegas, but the matchup was pushed back and reduced to three rounds for UFC 328 on Saturday at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
"I would've rather been a main event and have it gone five rounds," Buckley said, noting his 11-month layoff. "Especially with me being out for 11 months. I wanted to take time. I thought I wanted to rush it and get Brady up out of there in the first round, but I realized it's' been a minute and I don't want to rush it. I want to take my time."
