Joaquin Buckley was in action early today (Jan 17 AEDT) at Etihad Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, where he faced fellow-middleweight Alessio Di Chirico. The pair squared off on the main card at UFC Fight Island 7, featuring Max Holloway up against Calvin Kattar in the headliner (watch fight highlights).
As well as his previous five outings, the 2020 KO of the Year nominee saw an early finish to his bout against Di Chirico. However, having won four out of those five bouts, including two recent victories, this time Buckley ended up on the losing side.
On the third minute of the opening round Di Chirico threw and delivered right kick to the head, which dropped Buckley to the canvas. He immediately followed it up with a trio of hammer fists, while the referee rushed in to break the fight off.
Perhaps, one can say the knockout has a solid chance to be featured on the 2021 KO of the Year list of candidates. Time will tell.
You can watch the video of finish up top, as well as filmed from another angle caged side footage below.
Live on ABC right now!!!! #UFCFightIsland7 #InAbuDhabi @visitabudhabi pic.twitter.com/t6HL6NVOvU
— danawhite (@danawhite) January 16, 2021
With the win Alessio Di Chirico rebounded from the three-fight losing streak and updated his record to 13-5. Joaquin Buckley dropped to 12-4, which snapped his two-win streak.
The complete results from UFC Fight Island 7 can be found here.
