Joaquin Buckley made the a lot of the St. Louis homecoming he campaigned weeks for.
In Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 56 co-main occasion at Enterprise Middle, Buckley (19-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) despatched the followers right into a frenzy when he defeated Uzbekistan’s Nursulton Ruziboev (34-9-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) by unanimous resolution (30-27, 30-26, 29-27).
A inhabitants of Uzbek followers made their presence recognized through the walkouts, however the noise they made paled compared to that over the native St. Louis viewers as they cheered on one in every of their very own. In a shock transfer, Buckley walked to the cage with an Uzbekistan flag.
As soon as the motion started, the gang cheered and chanted for Buckley, who absorbed some heavy punches from Ruziboev and charged by for a takedown. Buckley managed Ruziboev on the bottom for a brief interval earlier than they rose up and separated.
Ruziboev tagged Buckley with a number of extra photographs and sprinted throughout the cage for an enormous flying knee. Nevertheless, Buckley planted him. As soon as again up, Ruziboev landed some extra.
WHAT A FIGHT 👏 #UFCSTLOUIS pic.twitter.com/ZT5ibxTkfL
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) Could 12, 2024
In Spherical 2, Buckley took Ruziboev down once more. The theme was repetitive all through the spherical. As soon as Ruziboev acquired up, Buckley planted him once more.
Issues acquired wild in Spherical 3, as Buckley rocked Ruziboev and dropped him. As Buckley swarmed, Ruziboev’s lengthy legs flailed for upkicks. Ruziboev scrambled up. Buckley rocked Ruziboev once more and mounted the Uzbek fighter. Buckley rained down punches, a lot to the delight of the St. Louis devoted.
Referee Keith Peterson warned Ruziboev to maneuver. Ruziboev adopted instructions, reversed Buckley, and ended up on prime. However earlier than lengthy, Buckley was again on prime. Ruziboev survived hazard and made it again to his ft, nonetheless. The 2 swung (with numerous misses) up till the ultimate bell.
After the win, Buckley referred to as out UFC star Conor McGregor, who returns from a close to four-year layoff June 29 vs. Michael Chandler.
“Conor McGregor, I need you,” Buckley mentioned. “You preventing at 170, however you ain’t preventing a welterweight. You’re preventing a light-weight midget. Come at me. You mentioned you constructed your weight up, however you’re bullying Sean O’Malley and Ryan Garcia. Come and bully me, canine. Let’s see what you’re actually about. I did analysis on the McGregor title, and also you come from a protracted, lengthy line of McHoes.
“Your daddy was a hoe. You granddaddy was a hoe. Your nice, nice grandpappy was a hoe. So I suppose it’s protected to say, your momma raised a hoe. And guess what? In the event you don’t reply, and I guess the cash I ain’t even acquired that you simply received’t, the entire world is aware of I’m telling the reality. It’s my time, and if you wish to be the king you’ve acquired to behead the king. It’s time to take the throne.”
He is acquired his eyes on ONE individual after tonight’s victory 👀@NewMansa94 | #UFCStLouis pic.twitter.com/rPsQzc8W2a
— UFC (@ufc) Could 12, 2024
With the victory, Buckley continues his ascent up the ladder and wins his fourth-straight battle. His earlier win was a TKO in opposition to Vicente Luque in March. Instantly after the win and within the days that adopted, Buckley campaigned for a slot on the cardboard in St. Louis. He even went so far as to ask UFC CEO Dana White for a battle through the UFC 300 press convention.
The battle was Ruziboev’s welterweight debut. A 6’5″ fighter, his different two UFC appearances got here at middleweight, although he does have earlier expertise as mild as light-weight. A ten-fight successful streak is snapped in defeat.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 56 outcomes embrace:
- Joaquin Buckley def. Nursulton Ruziboev through unanimous resolution (30-27, 30-26, 29-27)
- Carlos Ulberg def. Alonzo Menifield through knockout (punches) – Spherical 1, 0:12
- Diego Ferreira def. Mateusz Rebecki through TKO (strikes) – Spherical 3, 4:51
- Sean Woodson def. Alex Caceres through unanimous resolution (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Robelis Despaigne through unanimous resolution (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Chase Hooper def. Viacheslav Borshchev through submission (D’Arce choke) – Spherical 2, 3:00
- Esteban Ribovics def. Terrance McKinney through knockout (head kick) – Spherical 1, 0:37
- Tabatha Ricci def. Tecia Pennington through break up resolution (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Trey Waters def. Billy Goff through unanimous resolution (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Charles Johnson def. Jake Hadley through unanimous resolution (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Veronica Hardy def. JJ Aldrich through unanimous resolution (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC on ESPN 56.
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