UFC 307 Video: Joaquin Buckley flattens Stephen Thompson with brutal knockout, calls out Kamaru Usman

Joaquin Buckley made the most of his moment at UFC 307.

The ever-open welterweight contender took care of business in the octagon after delivering a brutal one-punch knockout to Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson midway through the third round. It was a stunning finish after Buckley struggled on his feet against the skilful Thompson, but it only took one big strike to change everything.

The end came at 2:17 of the third round and after his latest win, Buckley then turned his attention to a former welterweight champion who now needs another fight.

“We just block out the noise, the distractions and the work,” Buckley said after his win. “We come for this throne. I feel like I need to fight one more time before fighting for the belt. I love Belal (Muhammad), I leave you with Shavkat (Rakhmonov)

“(Kamaru) Usman, get your ass out of here in the octagon. Everyone wants to see this fight. Let's go. I'll put my 5-0 record against yours (three losses in a row) and let's get it done. Let’s see who will win.”

After being criticized for knocking out Conor McGregor following his previous win, Buckley received plenty of praise for demanding this match, as Usman has been out of action since October 2023 and is looking to get back into title contention.

As for the fight itself, it took less than 30 seconds for Buckley to rush in and score a takedown to send Thompson to the canvas. The game plan didn't surprise Thompson, who quickly scrambled to get back to his feet, but he still had to contend with a lot of forward pressure from Buckley.

While Buckley continued to charge forward, Thompson acted like a sniper from the outside with a right hand that started connecting on almost every exchange. Thompson's counter-attack caused all sorts of problems for Buckley as he went forward without actually preparing anything.

Buckley's greatest success was making the fight ugly as he punched Thompson in the face, threw punches and then looked for a takedown. Even when he took the fight to the canvas, Buckley simply couldn't hold on to Thompson as the two-time welterweight title challenger kept breaking free and getting back to his feet.

With five minutes left, Buckley began firing bombs to try and overwhelm Thompson, but the veteran striker avoided taking too much damage. But Buckley saw his opportunity, so he threw technical hitting out the door and went headhunting.

At that moment, Buckley charged forward and uncorked the hellish right hand that sent Thompson flying and dropping him to the ground. The referee immediately stepped in to stop the fight, and Thompson wobbled badly as he tried to get back to his feet.

It was an extremely impressive performance for Buckley, who won his fifth consecutive fight since moving up to welterweight. Perhaps Usman will be his next challenge as Buckley looks to get himself into title contention sooner rather than later.