“It was my manager calling me back, he sound all distressed... he was like. 'Buckley, I really don't like this fight for us... He is a good fighter, not a really big name... I said, 'Is it Alex Pereira?' He said, 'How the f**k you know that?'... I said, 'I'm a dog, so regardless of what we do, I've got to eat.' He said, 'f**k it, let's run it.So I called Brian back and said, 'Man, it's a go.' He said, 'I got some good news and I've got some bad news... the good news is that you look good for the promotion... because nobody else wanted to fight this man, but the bad news is he won't be able to take this fight because his coaches or himself said he wouldn't be ready in time'... To be honest with you, I was planning on knocking that man out, too.”

– recalling almost taking a short notice fight with Alex Pereira in 2022.