Thompson vs Buckley

Who won Thompson vs Buckley?

Joaquin Buckley beat Stephen Thompson by knockout in the 3rd round during the prelims of UFC 307, on Saturday 5th October 2024 at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Welterweight division, which meant the weight limit was 170 pounds (12.1 stone or 77.1 KG).

Thompson vs Buckley stats

Stephen Thompson stepped into the octagon with a record of 17 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw, 8 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 1 by submission.

Joaquin Buckley made his way to the cage with a record of 19 wins, 6 losses and 0 draws, 13 of those wins coming by knock out.

This was Stephen Thompson's 21st fight in the UFC, having made his debut for the promotion in 2012. Joaquin Buckley marked his 15th fight for them, having made his own debut for the promotion in 2020.

Stephen Thompson's UFC record stood at 12-8-1, while Joaquin Buckley's came in at 11-4-0.

The stats suggested Buckley had a large advantage in power over Thompson, boasting a 68% knock out percentage over Thompson's 47%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Thompson had a slight advantage over Buckley, with a 6% submission rate over Buckley's 0%.

Stephen Thompson was the older man by 11 years, at 42 years old.

Thompson had a height advantage of 2 inches over Buckley. Despite this, Buckley had a 1-inch reach advantage.

Thompson was the more experienced professional fighter, having had the same amount of fights, and made his debut in 2010, 4 years and 7 months earlier than Buckley, whose first professional fight was in 2014. He had fought 13 more professional rounds, 74 to Buckley's 61.

Thompson vs Buckley form

Thompson had beaten 2 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going to the judges once.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 296 on 16th December 2023 by submission in the 2nd round at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Kevin Holland at UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Holland on 3rd December 2022 by knockout in the 4th round at Amway Center, Orlando.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Belal Muhammad at UFC Fight Night on 18th December 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest.

Before that, he had been defeated by Gilbert Burns at UFC 264 on 10th July 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, United States.

He had beaten Geoff Neal at UFC Vegas 17 on 19th December 2020 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Buckley had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going the distance twice.

In his last fight before this contest, he had defeated Nursulton Ruziboev at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Nascimento on 11th May 2024 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Enterprise Center, St. Louis, United States.

Previous to that, he was victorious against Vicente Luque at UFC Fight Night: Blanchfield vs. Fiorot on 30th March 2024 by knockout in the 2nd round at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City.

Going into that contest, he had won against Alex Morono at UFC Fight Night – Green vs Dawson on 7th October 2023 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at UFC Apex, Las Vegas.

Before that, he had beaten Andre Fialho at UFC Fight Night – Pennington vs. Aldana 2 on 20th May 2023 by knockout in the 2nd round at UFC Apex, Las Vegas.

He had lost to Chris Curtis at UFC 282 on 10th December 2022 by knockout in the 2nd round at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Joaquin Buckley had been fighting more than Stephen Thompson.

Going to this contest, Stephen Thompson had last fought 1 year, 4 months and 16 days ago, while Joaquin Buckley's last outing had been 11 months and 21 days ago.

Thompson's last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 4 months and 13 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 10 months and 15 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 17 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3.4 rounds on average.

Buckley's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 4 months and 22 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 5 months and 23 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 12 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.4 rounds on average.

What time did Thompson vs Buckley start?

The fighters were expected to walk out at around 12:30 AM UTC , which was 8:30 PM EST or 5:30 PM PST on the West Coast of America, or 1:30 AM BST in the UK.

What were the odds on Thompson vs Buckley?

Stephen Thompson was a 187/100 (+190) underdog going into the contest, while Joaquin Buckley made his way into the ring at 11/25 (-230) with oddsmakers.