Joaquin Buckley worked diligently on his defensive wrestling during training camp prior to UFC on ESPN 37 — and it paid off in the form of a doctor stoppage victory against Albert Duraev.
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“I knew this fight was gonna be exactly what it was. I knew exactly what he was capable of. He had one thing that he was good at: holding people down,” Buckley said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I made sure this whole camp I practiced if I got taken down, I was getting back up. We were working a lot of scenarios on the ground, just being patient, working my hips to the cage, getting back up and throwing them hands.”Duraev was successful on just two of his nine takedown attempts in the middleweight bout and often absorbed heavy left-hand counters when he did attempt to shoot. That damage accumulated and over time, Duraev’s left eye closed completely. The contest was waved off before the start of the third round, though there was initially some confu…