Headed into the biggest fight of his career at UFC Atlanta this weekend, Joaquin Buckley’s first UFC victory still stands as one of the greatest knockouts in the promotion’s history.
Now ranked at #7 in the UFC welterweight division, Buckley joined the UFC as a middleweight in 2020 but moved to 170 lbs. in 2023 and has put together an impressive six-fight win streak that includes four stoppages.
“New Mansa” is set to headline his second UFC event this weekend in Atlanta, GA, where Buckley will take on former Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman and try to put himself in the running for a shot at the welterweight title.
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Buckley has only established himself as a potential title challenger during his current welterweight run, but the 31-year-old famously etched his name in UFC history shortly after he debuted for the promotion back in 2020.
A debut matchup with the recently re-ranked Kevin Holland saw Buckley suffer a knockout-loss early in the third round, but later that year “New Mansa” returned to face the undefeated Impa Kasanganay at one of the UFC’s “Fight Island” shows in Abu Dhabi.
Kasanganay has already secured one UFC victory after earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series, but the future PFL star found himself on the wrong end of one of the most incredible knockouts in MMA history when Buckley floored him with an incredible spinning kick in the second round of their middleweight bout.
One of the craziest knockouts of ALL TIME 🤯@Newmansa94‘s coming for another finish on Saturday’s #UFCVegas80 main card! pic.twitter.com/wQPO1LvL3i
— UFC (@ufc) October 2, 2023
Buckley went on to score four more wins at middleweight before back-to-back losses in 2022 encouraged him to drop to welterweight, where “New Mansa” got off to a strong start when he knocked out Andre Fialho with a head kick.
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Four-straight wins set Buckley up for a high-profile matchup with former title challenger Stephen Thompson at UFC 307, and after knocking out “Wonderboy” the 31-year-old met former interim champion Colby Covington in a UFC Fight Night main event that he won via doctor’s stoppage in the third round.
Buckley gets another step up in competition this weekend against the returning Usman, who still holds a #5 ranking the UFC welterweight division but is currently on a three-fight skid that began when he dramatically lost the 170 lbs. belt to Leon Edwards via last-minute head kick at UFC 278.
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