Joaquin Buckley handed middleweight prospect Impa Kasanganay his first pro loss and he also put his name in the race for Knockout of the Year in the process as he finished his foe in the second round.
Not surprisingly, Buckley was swinging for the fences, and he rocked Kasanganay early, but North Carolina prospect cleared his head and got back to business. Just before the midway point, Buckley got a takedown that resulted in a brief stay on the mat, but he was doing his best work on the feet, as he tested his opponent’s chin on a regular basis.
Buckley kept the heat on in the second, and while it didn’t look good when Kasanganay caught one of his kicks, the St. Louis product didn’t hesitate to respond, as he delivered a jump spinning back kick, and that was the end of the fight. The time of referee Kevin Sataki’s stoppage was 2:03 of round two.
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES – Costa-Newson, Ngannou-Rozenstruik, Blachowicz-Anderson, Williams-Morono, Sandhagen-Moraes, Andrade-Chookagian, Buckley-Wright, Dober-Haqparast, Benitez-Jaynes, Figueiredo-Benavidez 1, Nam-Adashev, Burns-Landwehr, Prochazka-Oezdemir, McGregor-Cerrone
VOTERS – Thomas Gerbasi, Christoph Goessing, Cory Kamerschak, E. Spencer Kyte, Steve Latrell, Zac Pacleb, Gavin Porter
