Joaquin Buckley vs. Nursulton Ruziboev announced for UFC St. Louis co-headliner
Joaquin Buckley is getting his wish. Sort of.
UFC CEO Dana White announced Wednesday that Buckley is set to face Nursulton Ruziboev on May 11 in the welterweight co-main event of UFC St. Louis.
A streaking welterweight contender and native of St. Louis, Buckley repeatedly asked to compete in the main event of his hometown card following his March 30 win over Vicente Luque, even doing so at UFC 300’s pre-fight press conference.
Buckley (18-6) has won three consecutive UFC bouts since moving from middleweight back down to the 170-pound division, sandwiching knockouts of Luque and Andre Fialho between a unanimous decision over Alex Morono. He is currently MMA Fighting’s No. 13 ranked welterweight in the world.
Buckley now makes the quick turnaround against Ruziboev (34-8-2), who transitions down from the middleweight division to accept the challenge. Ruziboev is 2-0 in the UFC with back-to-back first-round knockouts of Brunno Ferreira and Sedriques Dumas, both of which were contested at 185 pounds.
Ruziboev’s most recent win over Dumas came on the same March 30 card, meaning both co-headliners now meet at UFC St. Louis with a six-week turnaround.
UFC St. Louis takes place at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The event is headlined by a heavyweight matchup pitting Derrick Lewis against Rodrigo Nascimento.