Joaquin Buckley produced what many are deeming to be the greatest knockout in UFC history a year ago today.
'New Mansa' took on Impa Kasanganay at middleweight in the prelims on UFC Fight Island 5 and was the star of the show after producing a jaw-dropping stoppage that was named as the promotion's 'Knockout of the Year'.
In just his second fight with UFC, the Missouri fighter took home a tidy $50,000 'Performance of the Night' bonus after delivering a stunning spinning back kick to finish his opponent around two minutes into the second round.
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Buckley threw a kick with his left that was caught by Kasanganay, but countered in outrageous fashion by swiftly twisting and catching him flush on chin with the other foot.
It was such a seamless combination that caused Kasanganay to fall to the canvas as the official immediately waved off the contest and gave Buckley a sensational first win in UFC.
The commentators at Flash Forum quite rightly lost their minds and the slow motion replay captured just how devastating a maneuver it was from Buckley.
UFC stars such as middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, former heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, knockout artist Francis Ngannou, interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje and Nate Diaz were all blown away by what they had just saw.
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Speaking after the fight, Buckley claimed that UFC president Dana White discussed giving him all the bonuses for his outrageous knockout - which he says he practices on a regular basis during training.
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"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," Buckley said in his post-fight presser, as per talkSPORT.
"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. But it's awesome, it's surreal that Dana White came over and talked to me.
"It was just open. 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."
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Buckley would bag another $50,000 bonus for his next fight against Jordan Wright, which came just over a month after his last appearance.
He then lost to Alessio Di Chirico via a headkick knockout in January 2021 before getting back to winning ways last month with a win over Antonio Arroyo.
This win was his third 'Performance of the Night' for his work inside the Octagon.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: UFC, Dana White
