18-Fight UFC Veteran Announces Retirement Plan After Brutal Knockout Loss

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18-Fight UFC Veteran Announces Retirement Plan After Brutal Knockout Loss
(Zuffa LLC)

One of the UFC's top-ranked contenders has apparently decided that he'll be hanging up his gloves after one more fight.

The UFC has faced a significant amount of criticism in recent months for the lack of meaningful fights on a number of cards, but this week the promotion returns to Abu Dhabi for a loaded UFC 333 event that features a pair of title bouts at the top of the bill.

UFC 333 concludes a brief two-week road trip for the UFC, as the promotion also returned to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada last weekend for a UFC Fight Night card headlined Joaquin Buckley and Mike Malott.

Mike Malott Floored Joaquin Buckley in UFC Edmonton Main Event

Featuring 13 total fights, UFC Edmonton included Canadian fighters in all but one of those matchups and saw five Canadians get their hands raised during the latter half of the card.

Easily the biggest winner of the night was Malott, who extended his win streak to five fights and secured his second "Performance of the Night" bonus in a row when he knocked out Buckley in the second round.

The highlight-reel finish unfortunately left Buckley on a three-fight skid dating back to last year when he headlined UFC Atlanta opposite former UFC welterweight titleholder Kamaru Usman, who defeated "New Mansa" via unanimous decision to snap his own three-fight losing streak.

Joaquin Buckley Reveals Retirement Plans After UFC Edmonton Loss

Less than a week removed from his loss to Malott, Buckley revealed that discussions with his family in the aftermath of UFC Edmonton have encouraged him to retire from fighting after one more UFC outing.

"That fight right there, it was devastating, and it really affected my family...Listening to my grandmother speak and listening to her pray for me over the phone, and really being upset, and her telling me to retire, and to really kind of get away from fighting and really kind of get away from the
sport...I realized that my grandmother is right. But, with that being said. I just told her to pray for me, and to allow me to grace the Octagon just one more time and have the strength to step out there just one more time, because I can't leave on a loss."

Buckley is currently sitting at #12 in both the media and Meta AI rankings for the UFC welterweight division following UFC Edmonton, and all the losses on his current streak came at the hands of top contenders in Malott, Usman, and Sean Brady.

"New Mansa" Owns One of the Best Knockouts in UFC History

If Buckley is serious about retiring after his next fight, the 32-year-old would leave MMA after a total of 31 professional bouts and 19 appearances inside the Octagon (counting his potential retirement fight).

Kamaru Usman (red gloves) fights Joaquin Buckley (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at State Farm Arena.
Kamaru Usman (red gloves) fights Joaquin Buckley (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at State Farm Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

After he was knocked out by Kevin Holland in his promotional debut in 2020, "New Mansa" scored one of the most iconic knockouts in MMA history when he slept Impa Kasanganay with an incredible spinning back kick later that year.

Colby Covington (red gloves) fights Joaquin Buckley (blue gloves) at Amalie Arena.
Colby Covington (red gloves) fights Joaquin Buckley (blue gloves) at Amalie Arena. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

That knockout has been a staple of UFC highlight packages in the years since it occurred, and Buckley later established himself as an elite welterweight contender after he dropped down to 170 lbs. in 2023 and put together a six-fight win streak that was capped off by a main event victory over former interim UFC titleholder Colby Covington.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/fannation/mma as 18-Fight UFC Veteran Announces Retirement Plan After Brutal Knockout Loss.