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Joaquin Buckley is enjoying his newfound stardom following his spectacular viral knockout of Impa Kasanganay at last Saturday night’s (Oct. 10, 2020) UFC Fight Island 5 event, which went down on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (see it here). A dazzling performance that earned him $50,000 in post-fight bonus cash.
But “New Mansa” isn’t letting it all go to his head, as the talented Middleweight contender recently told Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports that he went right back to work at Walgreens following his win.
“I didn’t have a job, I was just working at the gym and then working out there. So my work was like my job, as in training,” explained Buckley regarding his early training habits.
“But then I realized I don’t have to train to extensively, every day. Because I used to train eight hours everyday, non stop. But it’s just wear and tear on the body. So as long can train for two or three hours and I am good. And so now I got free time so I might as well be making money,” he added while saying that’s when he started working at a local Walgreen’s to earn extra cash.
“I’m a shift lead so I run the night shift there. So I just make sure that everybody stays happy, man. You know, give them some points if they get mad.”
Of course, such proclamation is going to bring out the critics, and not toward Joaquin for making an honest living, but against the promotion and the longstanding argument of low fighter pay.
That being said, Buckley is only two fights into his UFC career so he isn’t exactly making Jon Jones or Conor McGregor money since he is likely coming in at the lowest tier of the pay scale that a majority of UFC newcomers sign on for.
Buckley will return to action at the upcoming UFC 255 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Nov. 21, 2020 to face Jordan Wright — who is undefeated at 11-0 (1-0 UFC).