UFC: Joaquin Buckley KOs Impa Kasanganay with freakish kick in all-time great finish
Joaquin Buckley just produced one of the greatest knockouts in MMA history.
The middleweight was facing Impa Kasanganay at UFC Fight Night 179 in Abu Dhabi on Sunday (AEDT) when he dropped his rival cold with a head kick.
But it wasn't just any head kick.
Kasanganay caught hold of Buckley's left leg mid-way through the second round - and the American somehow launched out of the hold with a mid-air spinning kick that ended the fight in the most spectacular fashion imaginable.
Joaquin Buckley kicks Impa Kasanganay to score one of the UFC's greatest knockout wins. ufc
Kasanganay could not have known what hit him as he fell to the floor of the Octagon. it was the kind of move usually reserved for video games and movies.
It was immediately lauded not only as the knockout of the year, but one of the greatest ever seen inside the cage. Buckley improved his career record to 11-3.
Buckley said that he had practiced the move but it was a first in the Octagon.
"Yes sir, we drill to kill, but I never landed it in a fight before," he said.
"He was coming hard, he had heavy pressure, so I just said, 'Why not just throw it?' And i got it. I landed."
ESPN commentator and former UFC fighter Dan Hardy called it "the most spectacular knockout we have ever seen".
Kasanganay offered this gracious message post-fight:
