UFC Atlanta: Usman vs. Buckley Fight Card, Predictions, & Odds

Ranked welterweight contenders Kamaru Usman and Joaquin Buckley will headline the UFC Atlanta card on June 14 inside State Farm Arena. Although he’s the former UFC welterweight king, Usman heads into the match as the betting underdog with +220 UFC odds.

On the other hand, Buckley’s six-fight win streak was the biggest factor in his role as the -280 betting favorite at the BetMGM online sportsbook. Check out this event’s odds, prediction, and full fight card below.

Kamaru Usman vs. Joaquin Buckley Odds

• Kamaru Usman: +220
• Joaquin Buckley: -280

Kamaru Usman vs. Joaquin Buckley: Prediction

I predict that Buckley will finish Usman via TKO/KO in this match because of his incredible punching power. Add the fact that Buckley is currently at the prime of his career and Usman is now in the latter stage at 38, I think his chin won’t hold up like before.

Usman may have the advantage in the grappling department, but Buckley has shown that he can defend takedown attempts decently. He did so against opponents like Vicente Luque and Colby Covington, both known to be great grapplers, and eventually finished them.

I see the same outcome in this match, with Buckley touching Usman in the early stages before the “Nigerian Nightmare” shoots for a takedown to try and nullify those powerful punches. However, with his constantly improving skills in this department, Buckley will defend it successfully.

With all due respect to Usman, I think once Buckley hits the target down the pipe, he could crumble into the punch much like he did with the kick to the head Edwards hit him with during their rematch, which sent him to the shadow realms.

If this match had been done three years ago, it would have been a completely different story because Usman was still at the peak of his dominance, where he just rag dolls his opponents and drowns them with constant pressure and wrestling.

Kamaru Usman’s Recent Fight Results

Usman won The Ultimate Fighter 21 in July 2015 and has been on a 14-fight win streak since his UFC debut in December 2015. During this stretch, he captured the UFC welterweight title and successfully defended it five times.

In August 2022, Usman suffered a fifth-round knockout loss to Leon Edwards at UFC 278. Since then, he has never won a match again, as he absorbed another loss from Edwards in March 2023 at UFC 286 and Khamzat Chimaev in October 2023 at UFC 294.

Joaquin Buckley’s Recent Fight Results

Buckley was a former Shamrock, Bellator, and LFA standout before the UFC signed him in August 2020. He first competed as a middleweight before his move to the welterweight division in 2023.

After moving to the 170-pound weight class, “New Mansa” went on a six-fight win streak and defeated the likes of Andre Fialho, Alex Morono, Luque, Nursulton Ruziboev, Stephen Thompson, and most recently, Covington.

Kamaru Usman vs. Joaquin Buckley: Tale of the Tape

Kamaru Usman vs. Joaquin Buckley Fight Card

• Kamaru Usman vs. Joaquin Buckley, welterweight match
• Rose Namajunas vs. Miranda Maverick, women’s flyweight match
• Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Andre Petroski, middleweight match
• Cody Garbrandt vs. Raoni Barcelos, bantamweight match
• Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Cody Brundage, middleweight match
• Alonzo Menifield vs. Oumar Sy, light heavyweight match
• Paul Craig vs. Rodolfo Bellato, light heavyweight match
• Michael Chiesa vs. Court McGee, welterweight match
• Malcolm Wellmaker vs. Kris Moutinho, bantamweight match
• Cody Durden vs. Jose Ochoa, flyweight match
• Ricky Simon vs. Charles Jourdain, bantamweight match
• Phil Rowe vs. Ange Loosa, welterweight match
• Jamey-Lyn Horth vs. Vanessa Demopoulos, women’s flyweight match