"I was doing that move in 2010" - Israel Adesanya on Joaquin Buckley's viral KO of Impa Kasanganay
Israel Adesanya recently shared his take on Joaquin Buckley's viral knockout win against Impa Kasanganay in 2020.
Buckley recorded arguably the best knockout in UFC history when he flatlined Impa Kasanganay in an acrobatic manner. The move took over social media and immediately went viral.
It was a stunning knockout, and one that hadn't been performed inside the UFC octagon beforehand.
#1 Joaquin Buckley vs Impa Kasanganay
https://t.co/NjG7zP1tdm
While Adesanya appreciated the knockout, he did state that he was doing those moves more than a decade ago in practice. While speaking to Kayo Sports, the UFC middleweight champion stated:
"This is not me trying to take credit, All I am saying is that I was doing that move in 2010. But when I was doing it, I was pushing of my sparring partner, so I wasn't able to land the kick. But when I watched him do it, he pushed off them backwards. Like, on his hand, while he caught the kick. The guy caught the kick and then he jumped off the hand and kicked him. He landed that one nicely. That was one I was like 'Man, he hit that.' Congrats to him. That's one of the best KOs I have ever seen."
Watch Israel Adesanya talk about Joaquin Buckley's knockout win:
Joaquin Buckley earned a stoppage win over Albert Duraev in his last fight at UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Emmett. The 28-year-old is currently on a three-fight winning streak in the middleweight division.
Israel Adesanya returns to action this weekend at UFC 276
Israel Adesanya is set to take on Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 this weekend. The fight will be contested for the UFC middleweight title and will occupy the main event spot on the pay-per-view card.
Adesanya will be looking to successfully defend his title for the fifth time against 'The Killa Gorilla'. The Nigerian-New Zealander is coming off a decision win against Robert Whittaker in his last fight at UFC 271.
He has already defeated Yoel Romero. Paulo Costa, Marvin Vettori, and Whittaker since winning the title at UFC 243 in 2019.
Cannonier, meanwhile, defeated Derek Brunson via knockout at UFC 27 to earn his title shot. The 38-year-old is determined for a positive outcome at UFC 276 and to finally get his hands on UFC gold.