Bloody Elbow · Oct 12, 2020
Joaquin Buckley’s KO is what the UFC is all about
Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesAt this point, anyone with even a passing interest in the UFC has probably seen Joaquin Buckley’s nigh-unfathomable KO win over Impa Kasanganay at UFC Fight Island 5: Sandhagen vs. Moraes.
A simple caught kick to the body, the sort of exchange fans have seen time and time again, turned into something infinitely more glorious. A monument to MMA’s evolution and the excitement that this sport can bring in even its most unexpected moments. Go back to the 90s, or even the mid-aughts and that kind of acrobatic move lived purely in fiction. Now here it is, full speed—live and unscripted.