Joaquin Buckley, architect of one of the most spectacular knockouts in mixed martial arts history, gets another opportunity this weekend to take a step closer to title contention in the shark-tank UFC welterweight division.

Buckley, 30, stunned the MMA world a little under four years ago with his stunning spinning kick knockout of future PFL tournament winner Impa Kasanganay in a showing that earned him the first of four UFC performance bonuses, as well as being a clear contended for the 2020’s most spectacular KO.

Buckley, though, was unable to parlay that win into a title opportunity at 185-pounds after dropping fights to Alessio Di Chirco and, in the span of two fights in late 2022, Nassourdine Imavov and Chris Curtis.

More recently, Buckley has dropped down to 170-pounds — a weight class which arguably suits his 5’8″ frame a little better — where he has wracked off successive wins against Andre Fialho, Alex Morono and, in March, a second round TKO of perennial contender Vicente Luque.

Ahead of Buckley’s showdown with the 34-8-2 (2) Uzbek fighter Nursulton Ruziboev which stands as the co-main event to the UFC’s return to St. Louis this weekend, you can catch his finish of Luque in the video below:

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