The Breakout Year
Now established as a welterweight, Buckley took to moving up the ladder. The first opportunity came against the all-action Vicente Luque in the co-main event at UFC Fight Night: Blanchfield vs Fiorot. While most expected fireworks, Buckley instead broke Luque down over the course of two rounds and eventually scored a ground-and-pound finish. It was only the second time the Brazilian had been knocked out in 33 professional fights, and the result placed Buckley in the division’s top 15.
With an event in St. Louis coming about six weeks later, Buckley badly wanted a spot on the card. It took some work, though, so a month before the event was scheduled, Buckley crashed the UFC 300 pre-fight press conference to ask UFC CEO Dana White for a fight. He got his wish in the form of Nursulton Ruziboev. The matchup put Buckley’s recently earned number-next-to-his-name at risk as Ruziboev had just two UFC fights (both wins) on his record. Alas, Buckley signed the contract and delivered a decision win to his hometown fans.
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With a win at home under his belt, Buckley would return to his ascent up the welterweight ladder five months later against the ever slippery and skilled Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson at UFC 307. Tasked with solving the dangerous puzzle that is Thompson, Buckley eagerly applied himself as he tried to close the distance and land heavy on the karate specialist. The first two rounds were close and, to the judges’ eyes, a bit confusing. At the end of round two, the scorecards read 20-18 for Thompson, 20-18 for Buckley and 19-19.
As is his wont, Buckley took the judges out of it when he launched himself at Thompson and connected with a nuclear right hand to hand “Wonderboy” just the second knockout loss of his career. If there were any questions about whether Buckley belonged in the top 10, those were replaced with questions about whether Buckley could make some noise in the top 5.
