AUSTIN, Texas – Joaquin Buckley was hoping to add another viral knockout to his growing highlight reel.
The UFC middleweight got a stoppage win Saturday at UFC on ESPN 37, but not exactly the way he envisioned it. Buckley (15-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) beat Albert Duraev with a TKO when the doctor overseeing the bout didn’t allow Duraev to move into the third round given the state of his left eye.
Buckley wanted a clean knockout, but he knows his opponent’s health is a priority.
“The doctor stoppage, it was cool. But you always want those viral knockouts and those viral moments,” Buckley told MMA Junkie at the UFC on ESPN 37 post-fight news conference. “That’s my biggest thing. I’m glad the doctor stopped it for him and for his health, but I just wish he added a little bit more pressure so I could’ve turned his lights off.”
Regardless of the doctor’s stoppage, Buckley dominated most of the action and battered Duraev during the course of their 10 minutes in the cage.
Buckley is happy with his performance and expected nothing less.
“I knew this fight was going to be exactly what it was,” Buckley said. “I knew what he was capable of. The one thing that he was good at was holding people down, and I made sure this whole camp to practice if I got taken down that I was getting back up. So we worked a lot of scenarios on the ground and just worked on being patient, working my hips to the cage, and stand back up, and just throw them hands.”
With the win, Buckley is now on a three-fight winning streak and 5-1 in his past six bouts. The 28-year-old also has four Performance of the Night bonuses in that six-fight stint.
Joaquin Buckley was hoping for a viral KO, but glad doctor stopped bout for Albert Duraev’s health
