Joaquin Buckley says he will retire after one more fight: "This is the last ride"

Buckley, knocked out by Mike Malott in the UFC Edmonton main event, says he feels too far from his goal of becoming a world champion.

By Combat Sports UK Staff · Published Fri 23 Oct, 01:06 UK · AI-assisted reporting

Joaquin Buckley: one more fight — Original graphic: Combat Sports UK

Joaquin Buckley says he has one fight left before he walks away from MMA, days after a knockout loss that he says hit his family hard.

"Buck got only one more fight," Buckley said in a video on his Kick channel, filmed in a sauna. "This is the last ride."

Buckley was knocked out by Mike Malott with a knee in the second round of the UFC Edmonton main event. "As y'all already know, man, I took a devastating loss," he said. "It's been really heavy on my mind."

He said the way he lost, and the way it affected his family, made the decision hard. Hearing his grandmother cry and talk about him stopping, because "she couldn't believe what she saw", had a big effect on him, he said.

"My main goal was to always be a world champion. And I feel like I'm so far away from that goal that it just doesn't make any sense to keep moving forward," Buckley said. "I ain't got much left to give, y'all."

"The risk and reward don't match," he added. "I think I did great with my career." He did not name an opponent or a date for the final fight.

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Joaquin Buckley Mike Malott