Buckley expands N-word controversy to Volkov and Holloway as Strickland fires back

UFC welterweight Joaquin Buckley has escalated a growing racial-slur controversy by publicly calling out Alexander Volkov and Max Holloway on social media, adding them to a list that already included Josh Hokit, Dustin Poirier, and Sean Strickland. Buckley (21-9), who previously confronted Strickland in person over his use of the N-word, says he will drop the issue entirely if any of the named fighters can repeat the word from a DJ booth in an all-black club without security.

“Hokit, Sean Strickland, Max Holloway, Dustin Poirier, Alexander Volkov, all of them boys having a field day, having fun with this word,” Buckley said on Instagram. “I won’t bring up the race card no more if they’re able to go to an all-black club, get in the DJ booth with no security, and shout out, ‘What’s up my ngga?’ I’ll shut the fck up. If enough black people don’t give a fck no more, I won’t give a fck.”

According to Buckley, Holloway used the word casually, while Volkov was filmed saying it alongside teammates in a video that circulated online. Strickland, who was confronted by Buckley in person earlier in the dispute, responded on social media with a challenge of his own.

“I bet you won’t go to the club and say N,” Strickland commented. “I bet you won’t go to the IRS and show them your tax returns… What’s a black Karen? This man has channeled it.”

Volkov took a different tone, questioning the premise of Buckley’s challenge rather than engaging with the substance of the accusation. “No judgment, with all respect for all nations. But why should I go to an all-black club?” Volkov wrote. “Can anyone explain… Is it more fun there?”

The dispute began when Buckley publicly criticised Hokit and Poirier for their use of the slur, before broadening into a wider conversation about non-Black UFC fighters and their casual use of the word. The controversy has drawn responses from several of the sport’s most prominent names and shows no sign of cooling, with Buckley showing little indication he intends to back down.