Joaquin Buckley improves to 2-0 at 170 lbs with dominant win over Alex Morono at UFC Vegas 80
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, October 7, 2023, for UFC Vegas 80, going down live from the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada.
Headlining the event is a lightweight affair between no. 10 ranked Grant Dawson (20-1-1) and longtime 155 lb staple Bobby Green (30-14-1).
Co-headlining the event is a welterweight bout showcasing a pair of knockout artists in Joe Pyfer (11-2) and Abdul Razak Alhassan (12-5).
Our feature fight of the evening also came in the welterweight division, this one between Joaquin Buckley (17-6) and Alex Morono (23-9).
Buckley came into the bout having gone 4-2 over his latest six appearances including a knockout victory over Andre Fialho earlier this year in May, while Morono came in having gone 5-1 over his last six, most recently submitting Tim Means in May one week prior to Buckley’s last win.
Continue reading to see how our welterweight feature fight of the night went down:
Official Result: Joaquin Buckley def. Alex Morono via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Buckley charges right at Morono once the bell sounds in search of a takedown. Once he disrupts Morono’s balance along the fence he unloads on a combination, getting clipped and backed up in the process.
Midway through the opening round Buckley lands a hard right hand that stuns Morono, though the Texas native recovers well. Buckley takes Morono down with about one minute left in round one, getting locked in an armbar before bailing out and standing back up.
Buckley ends the round with another takedown, getting locked into a standing guillotine. He slams Morono to the ground, escaping from the choke in the process.
Buckley has a hard time finding his range in the second, his most significant strike of the round being a heavy left kick to the body. Morono does a great job moving his head, and also stuffs Buckley’s takedown attempt at the end of the round.
Buckley really finds his range in the third and final round, battering Morono from the start. It’s impressive the chin Morono showed up with tonight, because Buckley absolutely unloaded on him through those five minutes.
Joaquin Buckley improves to 2-0 since dropping down to 170 lbs tonight at UFC Vegas 80.
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