Joaquin Buckley vs. Alex Morono added to October UFC Fight Night event

A fun welterweight matchup between Joaquin Buckley and Alex Morono is heading to a UFC Fight Night event next month.

On Oct. 7 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Buckley (16-6 MMA, 6-4 UFC) and Morono (23-8 MMA, 12-5 UFC) are set to meet in what will be the second appearance of 2023 for both fighters. MMA Junkie confirmed the matchup with two sources following the bout appearing on the ESPN event schedule.

The UFC Fight Night event features a lightweight matchup between Grant Dawson and Bobby Green, and will air live on ESPN+.

Buckley, 29, won his first appearance of the year by stopping Andre Fialho with a vicious head kick at UFC Fight Night 224. The victory snapped a two-fight skid after losses to Chris Curtis and Nassourdine Imavov. Prior to that, Buckley won three straight, including stoppages of Antonio Arroyo and Albert Duraev, and a decision win over Abdul Razak Alhassan.

Morono, 33, also bounced back into the win column in his first 2023 appearance by submitting Tim Means with a guillotine choke in a slick fight-ending sequence. Prior to his loss against Santiago Ponzinibbio, Morono picked up four consecutive wins, defeating Donald Cerrone, David Zawada, Mickey Gall and Matthew Semelsberger.

With the addition, the current UFC Fight Night event on Oct. 7 includes:

• Grant Dawson vs. Bobby Green
• Joaquin Buckley vs. Alex Morono
• Drew Dober vs. Ricky Glenn
• Chris Gutierrez vs. Montel Jackson
• Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Joe Pyfer
• Vanessa Demopoulos vs. Kanako Murata
• Bill Algeo vs. Alexander Hernandez
• Johnny Munoz vs. Aori Qileng
• Nate Maness vs. Mateus Mendonca
• Khusein Askhabov vs. Daniel Pineda
• Ion Cutelaba vs. Philipe Lins
• Montana De La Rosa vs. Stephanie Egger