Joaquin Buckley returned at UFC Austin on Saturday, taking on Albert Duraev in a main card middleweight scrap.
Unfortunately, there was no DUST Commander Dale Brown in his corner this time. But Buckley rode a two-fight win streak into his showdown with Contender Series 2021 winner Duraev, looking for his second win in two UFC fights.
Round one began with Buckley moving around a lot deciding to stick and move with Duraev. Duraev meanwhile spent the first couple of minutes smiling at Buckley until he was hit with a monster head kick and hurt. With Buckley now forcing Duraev to respect him he invited the attack from Albert. Duraev landed a head kick of his own and the rest of the round was much calmer with Buckley loading up on his shots quite a bit and Duraev working to get Buckley’s timing down.
Round two Buckley went back to his stick and move game plan, Duraev mixing in the takedown attempts, but was unable to get his opponent down. Left hands landed aplenty for Buckley forcing Duraev to continue to shoot. On one shot Buckley measured it perfectly and landed a clean straight left that dropped Duraev. Duraev’s left eye was compromised and incredibly swollen allowing Buckley to attack.
In between rounds the doctor took a look at Duraev and decided that he could not continue. Doctor stoppage win for Buckley.
Official Result: Joaquin Buckley def. Albert Duraev via R3 :10 TKO (doctor stoppage)
