In the featured prelim bout of UFC 307 this Saturday, Joaquin Buckley knocked Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson out cold in the third round despite likely being down on the scorecards.
Heading into his fight against Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson this Saturday at UFC 307, Joaquin Buckley understood the task at hand, knowing the wily veteran was his toughest test to date.
With that, the 30-year-old was hopeful of making it five wins in a row, with a win likely giving him a spot in the top ten of the 170lb rankings.
Joaquin Buckley comes from behind to knockout Stephen Thompson at UFC 307
With Thompson being one of the most experienced strikers on the active UFC roster, Buckley knew that he was going to have to show the 41-year-old an all-around mixed martial arts game to pick up the win.
Things didn’t start too well for ‘New Mansa’ as he seemingly struggled early on with closing the distance against Thompson, who is one of the best counterstrikers the sport has ever seen.
Early in round one, Buckley was caught with a big right hand which subsequently opened up a cut underneath his eye, resulting in him looking to get his wrestling game going.
After coming out second best in the striking exchanges in round one, Buckley came into round two with more forward pressure and looked to strike his way into Thompson’s range where he then looked to lock up the clinch and takedown attempts.
The 30-year-old again landed two takedowns from four attempts in round two, but unfortunately, wasn’t able to make them pay as Thompson’s experience allowed him to pop back up to his feet straightaway.
Although Buckley was seemingly down two rounds heading into the final round, the three judges had it scored three different ways. One judge had it 1-1, another had Buckley up two rounds and the final judge had Thompson up two rounds.
Despite the concerning mix of scoring, Buckley made certain that the final scores weren’t needed, as just over two minutes into the round, he loaded up a huge right hand that put Thompson out cold.
Joaquin Buckley calls out Kamaru Usman for a number-one contender fight
Following his win over Nursulton Ruziboev earlier this year, ‘New Mansa’ bizarrely wasted his post-fight callout by calling for a fight against Conor McGregor, which sparked a feud between him and Daniel Cormier after the UFC commentator labeled it the ‘worst callout of all time’.
This time, though, Buckley gained Cormier’s respect with his callout as he called for a number-one contender fight against former champion, Kamaru Usman.
‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has made it clear that he plans to return to 170lbs after a short unsuccessful stint at middleweight, and hopes to jump straight into a title fight.
However, with Belal Muhammad likely defending against Shavkat Rakhmonov next, Buckley believes now would be a perfect time for a meeting with Usman.
“Look, I feel like I need to fight one more time before I fight for the belt… But Usman, get your ass out here in the Octagon, everybody wants to see that fight, let’s go, I’m gonna put my 5-0 record up against your three losses (in a row), and let’s get it, let’s see who’s gonna win,” Buckley demanded.
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