THE MOST UNBELIEVABLE KO IN UFC HISTORY
#UFCFightIsland5 pic.twitter.com/O7BOJg8h9c— UFC (@ufc)
October 10, 2020
It was a surreal moment for Joaquin
Buckley at
UFC Fight Night 179 after he authored a finish that figures to
top many “Knockout of the Year” lists at the end of 2020.
The aftermath included a conversation with UFC president Dana
White, who was seated cageside at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi and
was understandably impressed by Buckley’s work.
“The boss just told me that he wants to give me all of the bonuses,
so I’m welcome to it, I want all of it. To be honest with you, it’s
surreal. A cloud came over my head when he was talking to me, so I
couldn’t hear nothing, but once that money came in, once he talked
about that, then it cleared up a little bit,” Buckley said. “But
it’s awesome, it’s surreal that Dana White came over and talked to
me.”
Although he would ultimately receive just one “Performance of the
Night” bonus, Buckley made jaws drop in the second round of his
middleweight encounter with Impa
Kasanganay, when he landed a jumping spinning back kick after
having a head kick caught by his opponent. Kasangany was out before
he hit the canvas in one of the most spectacular knockouts in
recent memory.
As unlikely as it might seem, Buckley says that he has practiced
that very manuever in training — though maybe with a slightly lower
degree of difficulty.
“It was just open,” Buckley said of the kick. “I seen that he still
had my legs. I was still able to balance with him grabbing my foot,
so I just spun and kicked. I aimed and I fire and it got the result
we needed. I know I landed flush. I didn’t know if I knocked him
out though until he locked up and I said it was game over.
“I train it all the time, the only thing that was different was him
holding my leg, but I practice it all the time.”