What better way to kick off the UFC Vegas 48 main card than with a cameo from Detroit Urban Survival Training guru Dale Brown.
Come again, you say? The infamous Brown’s inclusion in Joaquin Buckley’s corner may just have been a stroke of marketing genius. Brown had gone viral over the past year thanks to his dubious survival training tips, and while Buckley has serious credentials as a middleweight threat, the 2020 Knockout of the Year winner had more eyes on him than ever before after aligning himself with Brown.
Of course, should he lose to Abdul Razak Alhassan, Buckley might come off looking a tad foolish in retrospect. Saturday would tell us whether the gamble paid off.
Both men went right at it with no glove touch, Buckley pressing forward and trying to find an opening. Both men traded some solid leg kicks to open the round, Buckley continued to press but Alhassan found success in countering. Buckley landed two successful takedowns but was not able to gain any real control time. Buckley followed up and secured another takedown at the 1:38 mark, marking a career best in takedowns. The round ended with a with a single leg attempt from Buckley that Alhassan was able to stuff and follow up with some big shots.
Alhassan continued to invest in the calf kick to open up the second round while stuffing a double leg attempt from Buckley. Buckley continued his trend from the last round, pushing forward and causing Alhassan to shell up and look for a counter shot. Buckley secured yet another takedown at the 20 second mark. All Buckley and his pressure through two rounds.
Both men would feel each other out in the third, with no real action until the 3:50 mark where Alhassan was able to successfully trip Buckley and land some major shots from the top position. Buckley was able to recover, but Alhassan didn’t allow him any breathing room and would achieve another takedown. That led to big shots from Alhassan and yet another two takedowns equaling up to 2:30 of control time through four minutes. The round ended with Alhassan landing big shots from half guard.
Come the scorecards, Joaquin Buckley was able to pull off the very close split decision moving to 14-4 in the UFC and possibly proving that Dale Brown my be a real asset in the corner. Alhassan might have lost but he and Buckley showed that neither man was a one trick pony, and that both can go the distance. Alhassan is now 11-5 and it will be interesting to see what the UFC decides to do with him from here.
Official Result: Joaquin Buckley def. Abdul Razak Alhassan by unanimous decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
