Joaquin Buckley and Kevin Holland have been engaged in a social media feud since their bout in 2020. In Buckley’s UFC debut, he was defeated by Holland in the third round, and he has been seeking a rematch ever since to avenge his loss.
While Holland has often used their previous highlight reel finish to mock Buckley, “New Mansa” recently fired back with some shots of his own.
In a recent Instagram video, Buckley referred to his upcoming matchup with grappling specialist Michael Chiesa and accused Holland of holding a fake black belt. He further pointed out that Holland is not the only one in the UFC who falsifies their grappling qualifications.
Buckley stated, “Yeah, I wanna run it back with Kev. He’s got that fight with Michael Chiesa coming up pretty soon. I don’t know the date, but that’s going to be a good fight. I have Kevin picked for the win, but let me tell you, if Michael Chiesa gets his back, it’s over for Kevin. Holland is a fake black belt, bro. How can a man be a black belt and get submitted four times? It doesn’t make any sense, bro. Stop pretending, Kev, you hear me?”
Buckley’s accusation against Kevin Holland being a fake black belt is not limited to just his former opponent. He went on to explain why there are numerous fighters in the UFC who make similar false claims about their Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills.
“A lot of people don’t realize that the reason why many UFC fighters claim to be high-level jiu-jitsu practitioners is because they lack wrestling skills. By portraying themselves as skilled in submissions or ground fighting, they become a threat and wrestlers may hesitate to take the fight to the ground. But I think it’s corny now. There are many fake black belts in the UFC, and I’ve rolled with some real black belts, and it’s a different experience,” Buckley stated.
Buckley’s bold statements shed light on the issue of UFC stars falsely presenting their grappling abilities in the UFC.
While his focus may be on Kevin Holland, he brings attention to the broader problem of UFC stars misrepresenting their skills, potentially misleading both fans and opponents.
