Joaquin Buckley implemented his unorthodox knockout against Impa Kasanganay after watching his opponent juggle during fight week.
When fight fans look back at Joaquin Buckley’s career, many different angles will come to mind. From an awkward callout of Conor McGregor to his strange feud with a UFC broadcaster, Buckley’s UFC tenure has been extremely eventful.
Buckley’s name rose to prominence in 2020, during the height of the UFC’s events during the COVID-19 pandemic. At a time when the UFC was one of the biggest entertainment sources for fans stuck at home, Buckley’s greatest highlight reel knockout went viral and drew many new fans to mixed martial arts.
Buckley knocked out Impa Kasanganay, a current PFL star, with a wild two-touch spinning backkick in October 2020. While initially thought to be thrown strictly based on instinct, Buckley decided to implement the technique into his game plan after watching Kasanganay relax during fight week.
One of Kasanganay’s downtime activities ended up being the catalyst to Buckley’s all-time great knockout.
During a recent interview on the MightyCAST podcast, Buckley explained how Kasanganay’s juggling inspired the idea behind his knockout technique.
“He started to catch my kicks a lot, and the reason why I think he was so good at catching my kicks, is because before that fight we were at the hotel just chillin’, and I would see him juggling,” Buckley said. “He’s a great juggler, good hand-eye coordination. And I was like ‘Man why is he doing that? That don’t make no sense’. But when he was catching my kicks, he was so quick with it.”
“So if he catches my kick again, I have the opportunity to throw this kick. So I feint, boom, I throw the kick, catches it again and gets a good lock on it. We turn, spin, and throw the attack,” Buckley continued. “And I feel like in that moment just being able to think and be free, actually having an understanding I could do that, it kind of cemented the name for life.”
Luckily for Buckley and Kasanganay, both fighters have found sustainable success since the knockout. Kasanganay won last year’s PFL light heavyweight title, while Buckley is on the verge of a potential UFC title shot.
Remarkably, Buckley went on to land a similar knockout against Andre Fialho in his UFC welterweight debut last year. After recent wins over Stephen Thompson and Nursulton Ruziboev, Buckley is knocking on the door of title contention.
Buckley returns to the Octagon this weekend at UFC Tampa against three-time UFC title challenger Colby Covington. A win over Covington, especially by stoppage, could potentially earn Buckley a title shot for his next fight.
Buckley has reinvented himself since making the full-time move from middleweight to welterweight in his UFC tenure. With a solid wrestling base, along with his vastly improved striking, Buckley is one of the most dangerous contenders in the welterweight division.
Ahead of his next UFC fight, Buckley’s iconic knockout of Kasanganay remains on the top of fight fans’ minds when reflecting on his career to date. Buckley could repeat history this weekend when he comes face-to-face with Covington in Tampa.
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