Joaquin Buckley is enjoying his newfound stardom following his spectacular viral knockout (see it here) of Impa Kasanganay at UFC Fight Island 5, which went down on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, last Saturday night (Oct. 10, 2020). It was a dazzling performance that earned him $50,000 in post-fight bonus cash.
But “New Mansa” isn’t letting it all go to his head, as the talented Middleweight contender recently told Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports that he went right back to work at Walgreens following his win.
“I didn’t have a job, I was just working at the gym and then working out there,” Buckley said. “So my work was like my job, as in training.
“But then I realized I don’t have to train to extensively, every day,” he continued. “Because I used to train eight hours everyday, non stop. But it’s just wear and tear on the body. So as long can train for two or three hours and I am good. And so now I got free time so I might as well be making money. I’m a shift lead so I run the night shift there. So I just make sure that everybody stays happy, man. You know, give them some points if they get mad.”
Of course, such a proclamation is going to bring out the critics, and not toward Joaquin for making an honest living, but against the promotion and the long-standing argument of low fighter pay.
That being said, Buckley is only two fights into his UFC career, so he hasn’t exactly earned the right to make Jon Jones or Conor McGregor-type money ... yet.
Buckley will return to action at the upcoming UFC 255 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Nov. 21, 2020, to face Jordan Wright, who is undefeated at 11-0 (1-0 UFC).