😳 Joaquin Buckley has a WILD challenge for Max Holloway, Dustin Poirier, Sean Strickland, and Alexander Volkov! Buckley says he'll stop bringing up race in MMA if any of them can walk into an all-Black nightclub, get on the DJ's microphone with NO SECURITY, and shout the N-word. 🗣️ “I'll shut up. I won't even bring up the race card no more. I won't ever do it.” He insists that if any of them actually pull it off, he'll never bring it up again. 💀
UFC welterweight Joaquin Buckley has aimed a provocative social media challenge at four fellow fighters, daring Max Holloway, Dustin Poirier, Sean Strickland and Alexander Volkov to take part in a stunt tied to the debate over race in MMA.
Buckley's dare is blunt. If any of the four can walk into an all-Black nightclub, take the DJ's microphone with no security present and shout the N-word, he says he will stop raising race in the sport. "I'll shut up. I won't even bring up the race card no more. I won't ever do it," Buckley said, insisting he would never bring the subject up again if one of them followed through.
The four names are not tied to a single fight or storyline, and the callout appears to be a social media provocation rather than a matchup. It does connect fighters with a shared history. Holloway and Poirier have met three times, with Poirier winning in 2012 by first-round submission and in 2019 by unanimous decision, before Holloway took the third bout by unanimous decision at UFC 318 in July 2025.
Holloway, 34, is 28-9 and ranks fourth at lightweight and ninth on the pound-for-pound list. He lands 6.92 significant strikes per minute at 48 percent accuracy. His most recent recorded fight was a first-round TKO of Conor McGregor at UFC 329 in July 2026.
Poirier, 37, is 30-10 and fights out of American Top Team. His most recent recorded fight was that UFC 318 loss to Holloway. He lands 5.24 significant strikes per minute at 50 percent accuracy.
Strickland, 35, is 31-7 and listed as middleweight champion. He beat Khamzat Chimaev by split decision at UFC 328 in May 2026 and landed 6.04 significant strikes per minute across his career. The numbers on Volkov were not part of this report.
The numbers behind the names
- Holloway's career output of 6.92 significant strikes per minute is the highest of the three fighters profiled here, about 0.88 more than Strickland's 6.04.
- Poirier is the most accurate of the three at 50 percent, two points above Holloway and eight above Strickland.
- Holloway and Strickland both won their most recent recorded fights, while Poirier lost his.
No response from any of the four fighters was included in the report.
