Joaquin Buckley says he will retire after one more UFC fight: 'This is the last one'

UFC welterweight Joaquin Buckley says his next fight will be the last of his MMA career. The 32-year-old announced the decision on Thursday, October 22 (US time), in a video posted to his Instagram and on his Kick livestream, five days after Mike Malott knocked him out in the main event of UFC Edmonton. Buckley said his grandmother asked him to walk away from fighting after seeing the knockout, and that he has decided she is right, but that he wants one final appearance in the Octagon before he retires.

No opponent, date or event has been announced for that last fight, and no comment from the UFC on Buckley's plans had been reported as of early Friday, October 23 (Moscow time).

'My grandmother is right'

According to BJPenn.com, Buckley explained in the Instagram video that the Malott loss hit his family hard. "That fight was devastating, and it really affected my family. Listening to my grandmother pray for me over the phone, really being upset, and her telling me to retire and get away from fighting," he said.

"It took a lot for me to listen and digest it. I took some time, I slept on it, and I realized that my grandmother is right. With that being said, I just told her to just pray for me and allow me to grace the Octagon just one more time and have the strength to step out there one more time."

He added that he does not want to end his career on a defeat: "I can't leave on a loss. With me already having 18 fights in the organization, in six years, I'm a workhorse. I gotta save myself from any more damage. This is the last one, and we're going to make our last one the best one."

In the caption, quoted by Heavy's Adam Martin, Buckley wrote: "I'm taking one more fight. This will be my last one. I've given a lot to this game. More than I should have in some ways." He said he is doing it "for my longevity and for my babies", so he can "still be here, present, and whole for the people who actually matter", and signed off: "One more. Then I'm done." He also asked fans to follow his final camp on his Kick channel.

'The risk and reward don't match'

Clips from Buckley's Kick stream spread quickly on X on Thursday evening US time. In a clip shared by Happy Punch, Buckley said: "It's hard to make this decision... Hearing my grandmother cry because she couldn't believe what she saw, y'all don't know how that affected me. The risk and reward don't match."

In another clip from his stream, shared by several accounts including SleeperKO and Combat Casuals, he spoke about his title ambitions: "My main goal was always to be a world champion and I feel like I'm so far away from that goal it doesn't make any sense to keep moving forward. Buck only got one more fight in him."

Three straight losses

Buckley headlined UFC Edmonton at Rogers Place on Saturday, October 17, against Canada's Mike Malott and was knocked out by a knee in the second round. The official result was a KO at 2:32 of Round 2. According to MMA Junkie, it was the first time Buckley had been stopped at welterweight and his third straight loss, after decision defeats to Kamaru Usman and Sean Brady. MMA Junkie lists his record at 21-9 in MMA and 11-7 in the UFC.

The skid followed the best run of his career. After moving down to 170 pounds, Buckley won six fights in a row, including victories over Stephen Thompson and Colby Covington, the latter in a UFC main event, and was talked about as a possible title contender. He first made his name with a spinning back kick knockout of Impa Kasanganay in October 2020, which Heavy calls one of the best knockouts in UFC history.

After the Malott fight, Buckley reacted on his stream with disbelief while watching the knockout and said he planned to keep going. Five days later, his plan has changed to one last fight. POP MMA will update this story when the UFC books his final bout.