3 possible next opponents for Joaquin Buckley after stopping Vicente Luque

1. Sean Brady

Sean Brady was originally supposed to headline this event against Luque in a five-round contest but was forced to drop out due to an injury. Brady rebounded from his first loss in his professional career with an impressive submission victory against Kelvin Gastelum in 2023. A matchup between himself and Buckley for a spot inside the welterweight top 10 makes all the sense in the world.

This matchup would also allow Buckley to test his takedown defense against one of the best grapplers in the division. While both fighters have impressive track records, they are still looking to establish themselves as mainstays inside the UFC and become true household names. Matching up two up-and-coming contenders may be something the promotion wants to stay away from at the moment, but with similar rankings and an interesting clash of fight styles, a Fight Night main event between these two welterweights would be fantastic.

For Brady, it looks unlikely that his next opponent will be against anyone ranked ahead of him with several fighters already booked and other matchups seeming unlikely. The UFC could look to match him up against a division veteran with a higher ranking like Gilbert Burns, but as Brady looks to continue to rebuild his stock and move towards a title shot, a fight against Buckley could be the next move.