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Joaquin Buckley and UFC President Dana White shared a moment backstage following his stunning performance at UFC Fight Island 5.
There were a number of fights on UFC Fight Island 5 that had ‘Fight of the Night’ potential written all over, and a middleweight clash between Joaquin Buckley and Impa Kasanganay was near the top of the list.
With two hard-hitting Contender Series alum meeting in the center of the Octagon, a knockout was the most likely outcome, right? Yes, but no one could have seen the kind of knockout that ended up happening. In the second round, Buckley threw a kick to the body of Kasanganay, which was caught, but Buckley immediately spun around and kicked Kasanganay in the face and it was all over. Kasanganay was stiff before he hit the ground and Buckley turned in what is already being hailed as “the most unbelievable [knockout] in UFC history”.
Following the knockout, Buckley went backstage to complete a post-fight interview with UFC color commentator Karyn Bryant when UFC President Dana White showed up to congratulate him. Buckley was ecstatic upon seeing White and said, “Aw naw, you gonna make me cry!” while shaking his hand.
White then shared a few words with Buckley regarding the knockout and the attention it was receiving. On the UFC broadcast that night, it was announced that the clip of Buckley was the most shared and viewed in the history of the UFC.
“Aw naw, you gonna make me cry.”
See @Newmansa94‘s wholesome reaction when greeted backstage by @danawhite after his viral KO #UFCFightIsland5 pic.twitter.com/MCqhsIZWlb
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 11, 2020
“So, I always talk about when you’re on a card, right? How do you stand out? My phone is blowing up,” said White. “Kevin Iole [of Yahoo! Sports] f**king hit me up for a quote because he’s already doing a story on you. And everybody is saying, ‘Just give him $200,000 tonight. Give him every bonus’. Nobody has ever seen anything like that. Sean Shelby texted me and said, Write him a check right now for 50 grand and go give it to him before he gets out of there. Incredible.”
Buckley could not help but be excited throughout the entire exchange with White and after hearing about the kind of money coming his way that night, he summed up his reaction with just one sentence.
“Don’t tell me that, Dana, man!,” exclaimed Buckley.
You can watch the full exchange above.
Buckley did indeed receive a check for $50,000 as he was one of four fighters to receive a ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus. This is his first bonus since joining the promotion earlier this year and it is also his first win.