Joaquin Buckley entered UFC Fight Island 7 with two sensational knockout victories over Impa Kasanganay and Jordan Wright under his belt. The latest UFC viral sensation was hoping to keep the momentum alive with another potential statement-making knockout over his next opponent, Alessio Di Chirico. But that did not happen.
After some solid exchanges from both fighters during the opening round, Di Chirico landed a head kick that immediately crumpled Buckley and sent him falling awkwardly to the canvas. Di Chirico would follow up with a few punches to Buckley before the referee stepped in to bring the fight to an end.
The loss came as quite a shock because Di Chirico was a massive underdog heading into the fight with Buckley (who UFC President Dana White had said was one to watch out for in 2021). Although he did not speak right after the loss, Buckley took to social media to issue a statement on the fight.
“Just wasn’t my time,” wrote Buckley in an Instagram post. “All praises to God. [Alessio Di Chirico] enjoy your win. God has blessed you. We showed up and out. No matter what [win or loss], I always promise a finish.”
With this loss to Di Chirico, Buckley now sees his overall record in the UFC move to 2-2. In his promotional debut last year, he met fellow middleweight sensation Kevin Holland at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Oleinik, where he was knocked out in the third round. He rebounded with those ‘Performance of the Night’ awarded showings against Kasanganay and Wright respectively.
Di Chirico snapped a three-fight losing streak to names like Holland, Makhmud Muradov and Zak Cummings. The win over Buckley is his first in the UFC since 2018.
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