Joaquin Buckley declares his UFC Atlantic City opponent Vicente Luque “gave up” in the second round of their co-main event, eyes hometown return next.
Amid a controversial night in New Jersey, Joaquin Buckley followed up consecutive victories over Alex Morono and Andre Fialho with a brutal finish over UFC veteran Vicente Luque in the co-main event.
Joaquin Buckley earns the biggest win of his career at UFC Atlantic City
Heading into UFC Atlantic City, the co-main event between Vicente Luque and Joaquin Buckley was a near pick-‘em, with both athletes riding winning streaks as they entered the Boardwalk Hall arena.
After a competitive opening round, Buckley began to find his timing on the feet in the second and after a poor takedown attempt, Luque opted to retain guard and pulled ‘New Mansa’ on top of him.
It was a mistake that would ultimately cost Luque the fight as Buckley rained down vicious ground and pound shots from the top, with the Brazilian offering surprisingly little resistance until the referee stepped in.
‘New Mansa’ reacts to second-round stoppage of Luque
Reacting to his round two TKO stoppage, Buckley said that the fight played out exactly how he imagined it, noting that “I knew that I had to be patient and had to stay calm.”
“I told everybody that I was going to wrestle him, but I realized that I still had to respect Vicente but once I really got the feel of him in the second round and he realized he couldn’t withstand my power, that’s when we went to work.”
Buckley shared that he was shocked when Luque opted to take the fight to the matt in the way he did: “I was really surprised when he just gave up, went to his back, and pulled guard. But after that I realized that I was in control, got good hip [position] and just rain down that power.”
“Like I said, he gave up, so it is what is it.”
At the post-fight press conference, ‘New Mansa’ revealed that he “chuckled a little bit” to himself when he realized the position that he found himself in:
“I laughed actually…We all know that he’s a talented fighter, but I feel like there’s a lot of times where he’s up in a situation and he tries to fight through, but I felt I could break Vicente Luque and that’s exactly what we did. I made him quit.”
Buckley eyes quick return for hometown Fight Night
Whilst the 29-year-old didn’t have a specific name in mind for his next potential opponent, Buckley did demand a place on the UFC Fight Night card on May 11, set to take place in his hometown of St Louis, Missouri.
“I think I’ve shown enough [tonight] getting a finish over a well-known Vicente Luque and now we’re in the rankings now, it’s the only route we’re going to get that belt…May 11, let’s go St Louis let’s get it!”
That card has just had its main event confirmed as Derrick Lewis vs Rodrigo Nascimento, with the likes of Alonzo Menifield, Carlos Ulberg, Jared Gooden, Michael Johnson, Matt Frevola, Terrence McKinney, and Robelis Despaigne all set to feature already.
With the big win at UFC Atlantic City, Buckley is now riding an impressive three-fight winning streak and is expected to enter the welterweight rankings next week.