“Now, with me going down to 170, there are going to be bigger opportunities, in my opinion,” offered Buckley, who got the call to face Fialho roughly six weeks ago, while he was staying ready at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, trying to land himself a short-notice opportunity against someone in the rankings. “If people think I did great stuff at 185 — wait ’til 170.”
While the condensed timetable for this fight might frustrate some, the energetic Buckley said it was more than enough notice for him to prepare for this contest, especially given that he’s tried to share the cage with Fialho before in the past.
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“I knew about Andre long before; we were both in Bellator around the same time,” said Buckley, explaining the previous history he has with the man he’ll face on Saturday. “When I was ‘Young Buck,’ I was calling his *** out, but it was crickets. Guess what, though? Things come full circle. I didn’t have to call him out.
“The UFC brought him back to me, and I think this fight is a banger.”
It’s again difficult to dispute Buckley’s assessment, as 17 of his 21 career fights have ended inside the distance, including 11 of his 15 victories, while Fialho sports 13 finishes in 15 career wins, with four of his six setbacks coming without the aid of the judges.
