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UFC middleweight Joaquin Buckley is going for another viral knockout when he takes on Jordan Wright at UFC 255.
Joaquin Buckley wants to do the unthinkable again.
In his second appearance inside the UFC Octagon, Buckley fought Impa Kasanganay on the preliminary portion of UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs. Sandhagen on Fight Island back in October. After a back-and-forth first round, Buckley put an end to the fight in emphatic fashion when he leaped up and delivered a spinning back kick to the face of Kasanganay, stiffening his body immediately upon impact.
Within seconds of it happening, the starching went viral and began receiving the designation of “greatest knockout of all-time”. Now Buckley wants to do it for a second time when he meets Jordan Wright at UFC 255.
Once the Kasanganay fight concluded, Buckley told assembled media members in Abu Dhabi that he wanted to get back inside the cage as soon as possible — a wish that was obviously granted.
With Wright now in his sights, Buckley spoke with Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie (video provided by MMA Junkie) about his plans for his upcoming opponent and why he is intent on catching lighting in a bottle twice.
“Strike while the iron is hot,” said Buckley. “With this devastating knockout that I just had over Impa, I’m definitely looking to do it again with this next fight coming up against another undefeated fighter in Jordan Wright, and I definitely think I have the capabilities of doing another outstanding knockout, for sure.”
Prior to his arrival in the UFC, Buckley had built a reputation of being quite the knockout artist, with 8 of his 11 professional wins coming in that manner. However, in his UFC debut, he was unfortunately on the opposite end of that kind of finish, getting stopped by Kevin Holland in the third round of their fight at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Oleynik.
The loss was not ideal for Buckley, who was hoping to score his first UFC win over a big name, but it did not alter his overall goal in the promotion, which is to finish fights.
“My whole goal and my mentality is to always finish the fight no matter what, so it wasn’t just trying to create a statement with Impa. Every fight I’m trying to always steal the show and try to get these bonuses at the end of the night.”
Buckley scored his first performance bonus in the UFC with the Kasanganay knockout and was awarded $50,000.