Joaquin Buckley asks why his six-fight streak never earned a title shot over JDM

Two years after a six-fight run that stopped Vicente Luque, Stephen Thompson and Colby Covington, Buckley contrasts his own momentum with Jack Della Maddalena's injury layoff — three days before headlining UFC Fight Night 291 against Mike Malott in Edmonton.

Joaquin Buckley still wants an answer. In an interview with Brian Campbell for Paramount+ published Oct. 14, the welterweight asked why his six-fight winning streak never earned him a UFC title shot ahead of Jack Della Maddalena.

"I would really like to know why I didn't get the shot over JDM," Buckley said.

Buckley contrasted his own momentum with Della Maddalena's injury layoff, framing the question as one the matchmakers have never answered to his satisfaction.

Buckley's case rests on timing. His streak ran through 2024 while Della Maddalena, coming off the March 2024 win over Burns, sat out with injury before returning to face Muhammad in May 2025. Buckley's question, in his telling, is what that activity was worth when the title opportunity came up.

The run he is pointing to came in 2024. Six straight wins, including four knockouts, capped by a doctor stoppage of Colby Covington in Tampa on Dec. 14, 2024. Along the way, Buckley stopped Vicente Luque in the second round in Atlantic City on March 30, 2024, knocked out Stephen Thompson at 2:17 of round three at UFC 307 in October, and took a decision over Nursulton Ruziboev in St. Louis in May.

The streak ended against Kamaru Usman. The former champion took a unanimous decision over Buckley in Atlanta on June 14, 2025, with scores of 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47. Buckley followed that with a decision defeat to Sean Brady at UFC 328 on May 9, 2026.

Della Maddalena, meanwhile, took the route Buckley believes he was denied. After beating Gilbert Burns in March 2024, he defeated Belal Muhammad by unanimous decision at UFC 315 on May 10, 2025, to capture the welterweight championship. He lost the belt to Islam Makhachev by unanimous decision at UFC 322 on Nov. 15, 2025.

The comments arrive three days before fight night. Buckley spoke to Campbell on Oct. 14, the interview material surfacing Oct. 15, with the Edmonton main event set for Saturday, Oct. 17.

Buckley's next chance to restate his case arrives Saturday. The 21-8 welterweight faces Mike Malott, 14-2-1, in the main event of UFC Fight Night 291 at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Malott is 7-1 in the UFC and riding a four-fight win streak, most recently a third-round knockout of Gilbert Burns that earned him Performance of the Night.

Entering the announced matchup, Buckley sat at No. 10 in the welterweight rankings with Malott at No. 13.

A win would give Buckley his first victory since December 2024.

The Campbell interview carried no announcement of a title eliminator, championship booking or explanation from UFC matchmaking. Buckley's stated path back is the one he named: finish Malott and keep delivering finishes.