Joaquin Buckley made the most of the St. Louis homecoming he campaigned weeks for.
In Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 56 co-main event at Enterprise Center, Buckley (19-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) sent the fans into a frenzy when he defeated Uzbekistan’s Nursulton Ruziboev (34-9-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 29-27).
A population of Uzbek fans made their presence known during the walkouts, but the noise they made paled in comparison to that over the local St. Louis audience as they cheered on one of their own. In a surprise move, Buckley walked to the cage with an Uzbekistan flag.
Once the action began, the crowd cheered and chanted for Buckley, who absorbed some heavy punches from Ruziboev and charged through for a takedown. Buckley controlled Ruziboev on the ground for a short period before they rose up and separated.
Ruziboev tagged Buckley with a few more shots and sprinted across the cage for a big flying knee. However, Buckley planted him. Once back up, Ruziboev landed some more.
WHAT A FIGHT 👏 #UFCSTLOUIS pic.twitter.com/ZT5ibxTkfL
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 12, 2024
In Round 2, Buckley took Ruziboev down again. The theme was repetitive throughout the round. Once Ruziboev got up, Buckley planted him again.
Things got wild in Round 3, as Buckley rocked Ruziboev and dropped him. As Buckley swarmed, Ruziboev’s long legs flailed for upkicks. Ruziboev scrambled up. Buckley rocked Ruziboev again and mounted the Uzbek fighter. Buckley rained down punches, much to the delight of the St. Louis faithful.
Referee Keith Peterson warned Ruziboev to move. Ruziboev followed directions, reversed Buckley, and ended up on top. But before long, Buckley was back on top. Ruziboev survived danger and made it back to his feet, however. The two swung (with lots of misses) up until the final bell.
After the win, Buckley called out UFC star Conor McGregor, who returns from a near four-year layoff June 29 vs. Michael Chandler.
“Conor McGregor, I want you,” Buckley said. “You fighting at 170, but you ain’t fighting a welterweight. You’re fighting a lightweight midget. Come at me. You said you built your weight up, but you’re bullying Sean O’Malley and Ryan Garcia. Come and bully me, dog. Let’s see what you’re really about. I did research on the McGregor name, and you come from a long, long line of McHoes.
“Your daddy was a hoe. You granddaddy was a hoe. Your great, great grandpappy was a hoe. So I guess it’s safe to say, your momma raised a hoe. And guess what? If you don’t respond, and I bet the money I ain’t even got that you won’t, the whole world knows I’m telling the truth. It’s my time, and if you want to be the king you’ve got to behead the king. It’s time to take the throne.”
He's got his eyes on ONE person after tonight's victory 👀@NewMansa94 | #UFCStLouis pic.twitter.com/rPsQzc8W2a
— UFC (@ufc) May 12, 2024
With the victory, Buckley continues his ascent up the ladder and wins his fourth-straight fight. His previous win was a TKO against Vicente Luque in March. Immediately after the win and in the days that followed, Buckley campaigned for a slot on the card in St. Louis. He even went as far as to ask UFC CEO Dana White for a fight during the UFC 300 press conference.
The fight was Ruziboev’s welterweight debut. A 6’5″ fighter, his other two UFC appearances came at middleweight, though he does have previous experience as light as lightweight. A 10-fight winning streak is snapped in defeat.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 56 results include:
- Joaquin Buckley def. Nursulton Ruziboev via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 29-27)
- Carlos Ulberg def. Alonzo Menifield via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:12
- Diego Ferreira def. Mateusz Rebecki via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 4:51
- Sean Woodson def. Alex Caceres via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Robelis Despaigne via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Chase Hooper def. Viacheslav Borshchev via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 2, 3:00
- Esteban Ribovics def. Terrance McKinney via knockout (head kick) – Round 1, 0:37
- Tabatha Ricci def. Tecia Pennington via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Trey Waters def. Billy Goff via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Charles Johnson def. Jake Hadley via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Veronica Hardy def. JJ Aldrich via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 56.
