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Joaquin Buckley showed up Mamed Khalidov’s jumping switch kick finish at KSW 55 with a ferocious stoppage over Impa Kasanganay earlier tonight (Sat., Oct. 10, 2020) at UFC Fight Island 5 live on ESPN+ from inside Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi. Buckley ended up scoring a jumping spin kick finish that froze Kasanganay on the feet and offered fight fans one of the best stoppages in UFC history.
Buckley controlled this fight from the opening bell as he turned Kasanganay into a counter striker. That allowed Buckley to land the more meaningful shots in close and gave him the chance to score a nice takedown in Round 1 as well.
In Round 2, Kasanganay tried to push the pace a little more but Buckley was there to respond. After one of his body kicks was caught by Kasanganay, Buckly was able to jump off of one foot, spin around in the air, and land a brutal kick to the head. Kasanganay didn’t stand a chance to recover.
Check out the highlights above courtesy of UFC/ESPN.
With this performance, Buckley immediately puts his name on the UFC map after coming up short against Kevin Holland in his Octagon debut back in August. Kasanganay was one of the more promising young prospects to come into the promotion this year and Buckley turned him into an ironing board.
For complete UFC Fight Island 5 results and coverage click here.