Stephen Thompson expects Joaquin Buckley to wrestle him at UFC 307

SALT LAKE CITY – Stephen Thompson sees Joaquin Buckley take on him at UFC 307.

Thompson (17-7-1 MMA, 12-7-1 UFC) takes on Buckley (19-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) in a featured preliminary match (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) at the Delta Center in Salt on Saturday ) at Lake City.

Although Buckley has been the owner of several devastating knockouts – including a spinning back kick knockout against Impa Kasanganay – Thompson has noticed a different game plan than “New Mansa” of late. Buckley landed four takedowns in his unanimous decision win over Nursulton Ruziboev in May, and Thompson believes he will try to do the same to him.

“Go back and watch, I think it's been a fight, he fought the big (Uzbek) guy, he beat him,” Thompson told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the UFC 307 media day on Wednesday. “He won by takedown. So I prepared for it. I knew this would happen.

“At this point, there are people who no longer want to stand there and throw punches with me, which I think is proof that I punched out, and now they just want to take me down. So I’ll be ready wherever the fight goes.”

Thompson fought the likes of Gilbert Burns and current welterweight champion Belal Muhammad, who taught him a heavy grapple approach. Thompson has only one win by submission in his career, but is hoping he can surprise Buckley with some things he's been working on.

“Well hey, it could happen, baby – you never know. I could sneak one of those in,” Thompson said of a possible submission win. “We worked on it non-stop. I have great coaches at home – a great team around me to help me get to this point, so I’m going to put on a show.”

For more information on the card, check out MMA Junkie's UFC 307 event hub.