"Islam is not a natural 170 fighter" - Joaquin Buckley believes Islam Makhachev should retire after potential win over Kamaru Usman

Joaquin Buckley recently explained why he believes Islam Makhachev should retire after beating Kamaru Usman in a potential fight.

Makhachev went up against Jack Della Maddalena in a welterweight title fight at UFC 322 last month and defeated the Australian via unanimous decision to become the 11th two-division champion in the promotion's history.

Later, the Dagestani grappling savant was strongly linked to a fight against Usman, who had been calling for a title shot for quite some time. A fight between Makhachev and Usman was also advocated by Ali Abdelaziz, who serves as manager for both fighters.

In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Buckley opined that Makhachev should hang up his gloves for good after potentially beating Usman. He explained:

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"Whoever wins that fight between Islam vs. Kamaru can get out of here, because if Usman wins, he’s one and done, because he said he’s moving to get that title against Khamzat for the rematch. If Islam wins, he said he’s gonna hold it down for a long time, but I don’t believe that. If Islam gets the fight that he wants, that means not only did you submit your name at lightweight over your brother Khabib, but then you also got the double champ status, and then you also beat a GOAT in Usman. So you just pulled the Jon Jones."

He added:

"What else is there to do? What else can he do? You’d be foolish to keep fighting, because to me, Islam is not a natural 170 [pound] fighter, and that will get exposed if he fights a person like myself, Ian Garry, or Michael Morales."

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Islam Makhachev explains why Kamaru Usman would be his "hardest fight"

Islam Makhachev recently claimed that Kamaru Usman would be his toughest fight at welterweight. The Dagestani grappling maestro also claimed that Usman would breeze past welterweight contenders like Michael Morales and Carlos Prates.

In an interview with Red Corner MMA, Makhachev previewed a potential Usman fight and said:

"I said I wanted to fight Kamaru Usman next. Although the media doesn't believe in this fight, as I can see. But in my opinion, Usman would steamroll through these up-and-comers like [Michael] Morales, [Carlos] Prates, the striker. Those guys haven't been checked yet. I think Usman would be the hardest fight for me, and in terms of media, we could build it up like a former champion, the most title defenses in my weight division. We could promote this fight and make it fun to watch."

Edited by Nishant Zende.