Joaquin Buckley is calling on the former welterweight champion to fight for the number one contendership after his horrific knockout win at UFC 307

With that, the 30-year-old was hoping for five wins in a row, with a win likely giving him a spot in the top ten of the 170-pound rankings.

Joaquin Buckley comes back to knock out Stephen Thompson at UFC 307

Since Thompson was one of the most experienced strikers on the active UFC roster, Buckley knew he had to show the 41-year-old an all-around mixed martial arts game to get the win.

Things didn’t go particularly well for “New Mansa” as he seemed to struggle early on to close the gap on Thompson, who is one of the best counter-strikers the sport has ever seen.

Early in the first round, Buckley was caught with a big right hand which subsequently caused a cut under his eye, leading to him trying to get his wrestling game going.

After being second best in the striking rallies in the first round, Buckley came into the second round with more forward pressure, trying to work his way into Thompson’s reach where he then tried to fend off the clinch and takedown attempts.

The 30-year-old again landed two takedowns from four attempts in the second round, but unfortunately was unable to make up for them as Thompson’s experience allowed him to get back to his feet straight away.

Although Buckley appeared to be two rounds behind going into the final round, the three judges scored in three different ways. One judge had it 1-1, another had Buckley two rounds ahead and the final judge had Thompson two rounds ahead.

Despite the worrying mix of points, Buckley made sure the final result wasn’t necessary as he delivered a massive right hand punch that knocked out Thompson just over two minutes into the round.

Joaquin Buckley calls on Kamaru Usman to fight for number one contender

After his win over Nursulton Ruziboev earlier this year, “New Mansa” bizarrely squandered his post-fight statement by calling for a fight against Conor McGregor, sparking a feud between him and Daniel Cormier after the UFC commentator described it as the “worst statement of all time”.

This time, however, Buckley won Cormier’s respect with his effort when he called for a fight for the number one contendership against former champion Kamaru Usman.

“The Nigerian Nightmare” has made it clear that he wants to return to 170 pounds after a brief unsuccessful stint at middleweight and hopes to move straight into title contention.

However, with Belal Muhammad likely defending against Shavkat Rakhmonov next, Buckley believes now would be the perfect time to meet with Usman.

“Look, I feel like I need to fight one more time before I fight for the belt… But Usman, get your ass out of here in the Octagon, everyone wants to see this fight, let’s go, I’ll get my 5-0 record against your three defeats (in a row), and let’s do it, let’s see who will win,” demanded Buckley.

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