Israel Adesanya reacts to Joaquin Buckley's stunning spinning kick KO
UFC Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was impressed by Joaquin Buckley's spinning head kick knockout of Impa Kasanganay. Buckley, the southpaw, threw a roundhouse kick which was caught by Kasanganay, leading to Buckley throwing a spinning head kick as a follow-up to catch his opponent.
The knockout was so impressive that UFC made an exception on their policy of not sharing fight-ending sequences. Adesanya, who is himself known for his spinning attacks, took to Twitter to recognise Buckley's accomplishment.
Israel Adesanya impressed by Joaquin Buckley's knockout
Isreal Adesanya was evidently impressed by Joaquin Buckley's knockout of Kasanganay. Buckley, who fought his second fight in the UFC, is already in contention for the knockout of the year.
Coming from one of the best strikers in the sport, Buckley will be quite pleased with his evening's work. The 26-year-old bounced back from a TKO loss to Kevin Holland back in August, a fight he took on short notice making his debut in the UFC.
Speaking after the fight Buckley said -
"I’m trying to steal all the bonuses. We drill to kill but I never landed it in a fight before. But he was coming hard, he had heavy pressure so I said why not just throw it. And I got it, I landed.
"I was conscious of it because he caught my foot the first time. I was hesitant to throw it then, but the second time was like, why not? When I threw it, I connected, I just didn’t know that I knocked him out until I seen his body go stiff and thought, ‘Oh, yeah. That’s game over. I call it Wakanda style.
Adesanya who sits at the top of the Middleweight division will keep an eye on the 26-year-old contender following the highlight reel knockout. The Kiwi retained his title recently when he beat Paulo Costa in a striking clinic at UFC 254.
Former Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier also chimed in, calling the knockout the "craziest" he has ever seen.