Joaquin Buckley vs. Albert Duraev Announced for UFC on ESPN 37 in Austin

Joaquin Buckley will lock horns with Albert Duraev in a middleweight clash at UFC on ESPN 37.

The Las Vegas-based promotion recently announced the booking. UFC on ESPN 37 takes place at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas on June 18 and is headlined by featherweight duel between Calvin Kattar and Josh Emmett. The main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN2 and ESPN+ beginning at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.

Buckley had been previously linked to a matchup with Abusupiyan Magomedov on June 4, but that bout did not come to fruition. The 28-year-old Finney’s Hit Squad representative has won four of his last five Octagon appearances. Most recently, he took a split verdict over Abdul Razak Alhassan at UFC Fight Night 201 on Feb. 19.

The 33-year-old Duraev earned a UFC contract thanks to a first-round submission of Caio Bitencourt on Dana White’s Contender Series last year. In his Octagon debut, “Machete” outpointed Roman Kopylov at UFC 267 this past October.