Joaquin Buckley

Buckley entered UFC 328 trying to restart his contender push, but Brady's clinch work and control wrestling kept him from turning the fight into the striking battle he wanted.

Key moments

• Lost a unanimous decision on the UFC 328 main card.
• Spent long stretches defending Brady's wrestling and positional control.
• The defeat left Buckley searching for another route back into the welterweight elite.

Buckley got a marquee main event with former champion Kamaru Usman, but the fight turned into a veteran control performance instead of a breakthrough knockout opportunity.

Key moments

• Dropped a five-round unanimous decision in an Atlanta main event.
• Usman's wrestling control kept Buckley from building his preferred pressure-striking fight.
• The bout still earned Fight of the Night honors.

Buckley turned the Covington matchup into a disciplined anti-grappling fight, limiting the veteran's control and winning before a doctor stopped the bout in round three.

Key moments

• Limited Covington to one credited takedown.
• Kept the fight from settling into Covington's preferred control-heavy rhythm.
• Won by doctor stoppage at 4:42 of round three.

Thompson's counter-striking kept the first two rounds competitive as Buckley hunted power shots and mixed in takedowns. Buckley then surged forward with a right hand in the third, knocking Thompson out at 2:17.

Key moments

• Thompson countered effectively during the competitive opening two rounds.
• Buckley mixed takedowns with his search for heavier strikes.
• Buckley's lunging right hand ended the fight at 2:17 of round three.

Buckley broke Vicente Luque down over two rounds and finished the fight with ground-and-pound, closing the matchup with a decisive stoppage.

Key moments

• Worked through two rounds while steadily breaking Luque down.
• Created the finishing sequence with sustained pressure rather than one isolated strike.
• Closed the bout with ground-and-pound.

Buckley edged a competitive three-round fight with Alex Morono by making his power and physicality count across the full distance.

Key moments

• Kept the fight competitive through all three rounds.
• Used physicality and power to win the most important exchanges.
• Banked the unanimous decision without needing a late finish.

The result reinforced that the weight-class move had not dulled the sudden explosiveness that makes him dangerous.

Key moments

• Finished Fialho by TKO with a left high kick at 4:15 of round two.
• Closed the fight with one clean kicking attack after a measured start.
• Added a highlight stoppage to the early part of his welterweight rebuild.

Buckley and Chris Curtis produced the kind of tense middleweight striking fight that always left one clean counter away from disaster, and Curtis found it in round two. The loss mattered because it stalled Buckley's attempt to build consistency at 185 before his later return to welterweight.

Key moments

• Lost by knockout at 2:49 of the second round in Las Vegas.
• The fight stayed dangerous in the pocket until Curtis landed the finishing punches.
• It became Buckley's last middleweight UFC appearance before his welterweight move.

Buckley came up short in Paris when Nassourdine Imavov used a steadier three-round performance to take a unanimous decision.

Key moments

• Lost a unanimous decision by scores of 29-28, 29-28, and 30-27.
• Imavov collected his third straight UFC victory at Buckley's expense.
• The result stalled Buckley's middleweight push before his later move back to welterweight.

Buckley turned in a dominant performance against Albert Duraev in Austin and forced a doctor's stoppage at the end of round two. The win was important because it showed he could carry his offense beyond a single explosive moment and systematically break an opponent down.

Key moments

• Beat Duraev by doctor stoppage at the close of the second round.
• Controlled the fight strongly enough that Duraev could not continue.
• Delivered one of his clearest all-round UFC wins rather than relying on a sudden knockout.

Buckley edged Abdul Razak Alhassan in a close split decision by adding wrestling and control to the usual striking threat. The result mattered because it showed he could win a messy, competitive fight without needing a highlight-reel finish.

Key moments

• Won a split decision after three rounds in Las Vegas.
• Used wrestling in the first round to widen the shape of the fight.
• Proved he could bank rounds with more than just knockout offense.

Buckley got back to what he does best against Antonio Arroyo, stopping him in the third round and reminding everyone how dangerous he is once exchanges open up.

Key moments

• Knocked out Arroyo at 2:26 of the third round.
• Delivered another stoppage built on his aggressive pocket striking.
• Rebounded from the Alessio Di Chirico loss with a needed finish.

Buckley's UFC debut came against Kevin Holland on short notice, and Holland finished him early in the third round after a competitive, active fight. The loss mattered less as a verdict than as a reminder that Buckley arrived in the promotion willing to exchange immediately.

Key moments

• Lost his UFC debut by third-round TKO at 0:32.
• Holland scored his second knockout win of 2020 in the matchup.
• Even in defeat, Buckley established the aggressive style that quickly made him watchable.

The win mattered because it looked like the last proof-of-concept for the explosive middleweight the UFC was about to sign.

Key moments

• Buckley landed a heavy left hand that knocked Gosh down early in the fight.
• He kept building on that pressure, even flashing a high kick before the finish arrived.
• At 1:47 of round two, Buckley ended it with punches after another clean knockdown sequence.

Buckley ran into a bad stylistic matchup against Logan Storley, who turned the fight into a wrestling-control performance and never let Buckley build a clean striking rhythm. It was a useful checkpoint fight because it showed how much Buckley's offense depended on staying upright and at range long enough to open up.

Key moments

• Storley repeatedly went back to takedowns and control instead of giving Buckley long exchanges on the feet.
• By the second round, Storley was again taking Buckley down, neutralizing him, and preventing clean stand-ups.
• After three rounds of that grind, Buckley lost a unanimous decision.