Robert Whittaker questions Joaquin Buckley's confidence ahead of Mike Malott fight at UFC Edmonton

Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker says he is worried that Joaquin Buckley will walk into Saturday's UFC Fight Night main event against Mike Malott without the confidence that carried him through a six-fight winning streak.

Whittaker made the comments on his MMArcade Podcast, as reported by MMA Junkie on October 13. Buckley (21-8 MMA, 11-6 UFC) faces Malott (14-2-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) in the welterweight main event of UFC Fight Night at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, on Saturday, October 17.

Different trajectories

Buckley and Malott enter the bout on opposite runs. After finishing Stephen Thompson and Colby Covington during a six-fight streak, Buckley was heavily outgrappled in consecutive decision losses to former champion Kamaru Usman and Sean Brady.

Malott, by contrast, arrives on a four-fight winning streak that includes a Performance of the Night technical knockout of Gilbert Burns in April. The Canadian is a slight favorite in a near pick'em on the betting odds.

Confidence and momentum

Whittaker described Buckley as a fighter whose personality leans on confidence and momentum.

"(Buckley's) personality lends itself to think that he's a very big confidence fighter, momentum fighter, and that he rides and carries that confidence and momentum through with him into the octagon itself," Whittaker said. "Him coming off two losses against a guy like Malott, who's coming off like really hot and heavy ... whenever you're on two losses, the feeling you have walking into the octagon that third time – it's heavy."

He added that a third consecutive loss would bring outside noise that is hard to ignore: "There's just a weight on your shoulders because you know, even if you are quieting and silencing all the outside noise, you know that this third one, if you lose, mate, everyone's telling you to get a new job."

Whittaker said he hopes fans see the best version of both men, but he remains concerned about Buckley's headspace after the back-to-back setbacks.

Lean toward Malott

Asked for a prediction, Whittaker leaned toward the home fighter while still respecting Buckley's peak form.

"I'll lean towards Malott just because of the points I made out, but I do want to see a Buckley go in there and we see the best version of Buckley," he said. "If we see the best version of Buckley, man, that guy was almost – he was untouchable at one point. Like, he had rocks in his hands."

UFC Edmonton card

According to UFC.com, the Edmonton main card also features Erin Blanchfield vs Jasmine Jasudavicius in a women's flyweight bout, with the main card airing at 8 p.m. ET on Paramount+ and Sportsnet. Prelims begin earlier on the same platforms, with early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.