Chances are, you saw the wildly insane knockout that Joaquin Buckley landed on Impa Kasanganay at UFC Fight Island 5. Now he breaks down how he managed to score this viral moment.
Heading into last weekend’s UFC event, the majority of fans were not very familiar with Buckley. This was his second fight in the promotion, after dropping his debut to Kevin Holland. However he quickly gained everyone’s attention, after he used the momentum of a parried kick to spinning back kick Impa Kasanganay into the ether, while his foot was being held. It was one of the craziest knockouts in combat sport’s history, and the highlight video has been spreading like wildfire since.
Joaquin Buckley Breaks Down His Knockout
With such an incredibly awe-inspiring knockout, many people have been wondering how Joaquin Buckley could do something like that. Speaking in a recent interview, he decided to break down how he managed to make this happen. As expected, he admitted that this was largely a chance opportunity that he was able to capitalize on in the cage.
“It wasn’t set up, as much as it was an opportunity that he gave me,” Buckley explained. “When I was kicking, the gameplan was to pretty much beat up on his lead leg and destroy his right side of his body and to shut down his forearms because he blocks pretty heavy. I just wanted to kick the mess out of his forearms and his body.
“So when he caught a couple of my kicks, I just saw the opportunity to do it,” Buckley continued. “The first two times I just didn’t, so I told myself that if he catches my kick like that again, I’mma just throw it. So once he caught my kick that third time and tried to swing me around, I just went with the momentum and of course, you got what you got.”
🔊"I'm just getting started. This is one my first starch knockouts, but I don't think it's going to be my last." – @Newmansa94 discusses how he set up his now world famous KO & what he thinks of it being called the greatest in UFC history on Unlocking The Cage w/@jimmysmithmma pic.twitter.com/NBgI6C3TP5
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) October 14, 2020
This was certainly a crazy knockout to see, and put Joaquin Buckley on the map in ways that he could never have expected. It is going to be interesting to see how the UFC decides to match him up next.
