This time, it\u2019s Shakur Stevenson vs. the UFC with Joaquin Buckley firing the first counterpunch and UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier stepping in to back him up. After Stevenson suggested that the UFC \u201ccould never be boxing,\u201d Buckley didn\u2019t hesitate. The surging welterweight called boxers \u201cdisrespectful\u201d toward MMA fighters and criticized what he views as a cautious, record-protecting style in today\u2019s sweet science. Cormier agreed and went even further.<\/p>\n
Buckley\u2019s issue isn\u2019t with boxing as a sport. It\u2019s with what he believes modern boxing has become. In his view, elite boxers often prioritize defense and preserving undefeated records over pursuing knockouts. The result? High-level technical performances that may win rounds but don\u2019t always win over fans.<\/p>\n
The implication was clear: fighters like Stevenson, known for defensive mastery and ring IQ, represent excellence but not always excitement. Buckley\u2019s message was blunt. If you\u2019re a true fighter, you seek the finish. In MMA, coasting isn\u2019t an option. One mistake can lead to a knockout, submission, or scramble that flips a fight instantly. The danger is constant. And in Buckley\u2019s mind, that makes the UFC product more compelling.<\/p>\n
Cormier echoed Buckley\u2019s sentiment but framed it historically. On his YouTube channel, Cormier said the UFC doesn\u2019t need to be boxing especially not modern boxing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I wanted to be boxing,\u201d Cormier explained, \u201cI\u2019d want to be boxing of the \u201870s, \u201880s and \u201890s.\u201d He referenced eras defined by icons like Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson\u00a0periods when heavyweight title fights felt like global events. He pointed to the days of Lennox Lewis and even the dominance of the Klitschko brothers, when championship bouts carried undeniable mainstream weight.<\/p>\n
Cormier\u2019s central argument: boxing once delivered massive stars fighting each other at the right time. Today, he believes, those consistent mega-clashes are harder to find.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This time, it\u2019s Shakur Stevenson vs. the UFC with Joaquin Buckley firing the first counterpunch and UFC Hall…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":["post-476390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}