Mike Malott knocked out Joaquin Buckley at 2:32 of Round 2 in the UFC Edmonton main event Saturday night. He caught Buckley stepping in with one clean shot to the head and didn’t need to throw anything after it.
What exactly landed depends on who you read. MMA Weekly’s round-by-round called it a knee to the head, timed perfectly as Buckley moved forward. Bloody Elbow described a massive head kick. Either way, Buckley flopped to the canvas and that was the night.
It was close up to that point. The two skipped the glove touch, Buckley took the center and stalked, and the exchanges stayed even. Malott opened with a body kick and a right hand. Buckley answered with a counter right and kept the pressure on, enough that MMA Weekly scored the first round 10-9 for him. He came out aggressive in the second, closed the distance and tied Malott up, and Malott went to work with knees to the body before they broke off a stretch of dirty boxing along the fence. Moments later Buckley walked into the finish.
Where this leaves them
Buckley came in at 21-8 and ranked No. 8 at welterweight, and he needed this one. The win over Colby Covington that closed out 2024 made him a star. The two years since have been ugly. Kamaru Usman outpointed him decisively last year in his only fight of the year, then Sean Brady took a unanimous decision off him at UFC 328, and Bloody Elbow noted he dropped RAF Wrestling bouts on either side of that stretch. Add Edmonton and it’s three straight losses in the UFC.
The fight week was strange, too. Buckley, a guy known for abrasive interviews, went completely quiet in the build-up, which Bloody Elbow said made for an awkward few days. Once the cage door shut he was back to normal, keeping it standing and taunting Malott whenever something missed. That style is why people love him. It’s also what left him open.
Malott, ranked No. 11, walked in riding a four-fight win streak, the last of which ended Gilbert Burns’ career. Now it’s five, and the newest one came over a top-10 name in front of a home crowd that got exactly what it bought tickets for. The UFC hasn’t announced what’s next for either fighter.
My take: Malott just beat the guy ranked three spots above him while losing the first round on at least one scorecard, and he did it by staying patient while getting stalked. That’s a contender’s win. Buckley, meanwhile, needs a long look at whether the silent treatment and the taunting can coexist, because three losses in a row against this division doesn’t care how entertaining you were while they happened.
