UFC: Joaquin Buckley lands ‘greatest KO in history’ contender with spinning back kick vs Impa Kasanganay
- ‘Dana White just told me he wants to give me all of the bonuses,’ says Buckley after he delivers stunning finish
- UFC fighters, media and fans alike laud ‘craziest knockout ever’ at Fight Island 5 in Abu Dhabi
Dana White said it all on social media when he wrote: “Is this the greatest KO in UFC history?”
The UFC president was tweeting about Joaquin Buckley (11-3), who immediately went viral after a highlight-reel knockout via spinning back kick against Impa Kasanganay (8-1) at UFC Fight Island 5 in Abu Dhabi.
“The boss just told me that he wants to give me all of the bonuses, so I’m welcome to it, I want all of it,” Buckley said after the fight.
“To be honest with you, it’s surreal, a cloud came over my head when he was talking to me, so I couldn’t hear nothing, but once that money came in, once he talked about that, then it cleared up a little bit. But it’s awesome, it’s surreal that Dana White came over and talked to me.”
In the end, the 26-year-old had to settle for a US$50,000 Performance of the Night bonus along with Tom Breese, Chris Daukus and Cory Sandhagen (who finished Marlon Moraes with a spinning heel kick of his own in the main event).
After a back-and-forth first round in their middleweight contest, “New Mansa” finished his fellow American at 2:03 of the second round. Kasanganay had caught a high kick Buckley threw with his left leg, but standing on one foot, Buckley spun around and landed a kick with the right leg to the head.
“That might be the greatest KO I’ve seen ever,” said UFC lightweight Paul Felder on commentary.
“It was just open,” Buckley said. “I seen that he still had my legs, I was still able to balance with him grabbing my foot, so I just spun and kicked. I aimed and I fired and it got the result we needed.
“I know I landed flush, I didn’t know if I knocked him out though until he locked up and I said it was game over. I train it all the time, the only thing that was different was him holding my leg, but I practice it all the time.”
Kasanganay was coming off a debut win in the UFC against Maki Pitolo in August, taken on 11 days’ notice after earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series.
“Tshilobo” took the knockout in good spirits, sending a classy message on social media to his opponent.
“God bless you,” the 26-year-old wrote on Instagram. “It was an honour to step in the Octagon with you and to do what I love. Safe travels to you and your team. Beautiful shot. Way to fight.”
UFC fighters were quick to laud the knockout on social media.
“I mean, I’ve seen some s*** in MMA, but that may be the craziest knockout ever!!!” former two division champ Daniel Cormier tweeted.
“That move. That’s 50 G’s!” posted middleweight champ Israel Adesanya. Interim lightweight champ Justin Gaethje said: “Wow we just witnessed the best KO of 2020.”
“Some crazy NINJA s***,’” said heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou.
