Joaquin Yuconri Buckley was born on April 27, 1994, in St. Louis, Missouri, according to his Wikipedia biography. He was raised largely in his grandmother’s house in St. Louis, and his mother died of a heart condition when he was in the sixth grade, a loss that shaped much of his early life. He attended Marquette High School in nearby Chesterfield, Missouri, where he wrestled competitively before turning his attention to combat sports full time.

Buckley turned professional in 2014 and spent several years fighting on the regional Missouri circuit for promotions including Shamrock FC before moving on to Legacy Fighting Alliance and Bellator MMA, a path documented on his Sherdog fighter profile. He compiled a 10-2 record before reaching the UFC, including a unanimous decision loss to Logan Storley at Bellator 197 in April 2018, a tough early test against a wrestler who would go on to become a Bellator welterweight champion himself.

Buckley made his UFC debut on August 8, 2020, losing by third-round TKO to Kevin Holland, a rocky start that could have stalled his career. Two months later, on October 11, 2020, he faced Impa Kasanganay on a UFC Fight Island card in Abu Dhabi and produced the moment that changed his trajectory: after Kasanganay caught his leg following a body kick, Buckley spun 360 degrees off his trapped leg and landed a spinning back kick to the head for an instant knockout. As detailed in ESPN’s account of the moment, the UFC’s video of the finish became the most-liked, most-retweeted and most-viewed tweet in the promotion’s history, drawing more than 12.8 million views and vaulting him into the sport’s spotlight.

According to his official UFC athlete page, Buckley has compiled a 21-8 professional record with 15 of his wins coming by knockout, and has collected five Performance of the Night bonuses, for his wins over Kasanganay, Jordan Wright, Antonio Arroyo, Albert Duraev and Stephen Thompson, along with a Fight of the Night bonus tied to his 2025 fight against former champion Kamaru Usman. His resume includes finishes of Stephen Thompson and Colby Covington in 2024, wins that pushed him into the welterweight top ten, and he closed out that year as the UFC.com Awards’ 9th-ranked Fighter of the Year.

Buckley’s Kasanganay knockout carried well beyond MMA circles: rapper Kanye West used footage of the finish to promote a song release later in 2020, a crossover moment covered at the time by ESPN Africa. The clip was later voted the UFC’s Knockout of the Year for 2020 by fans and multiple MMA outlets, and it remains one of the most replayed highlights in the promotion’s history. Buckley has continued to draw attention with an outspoken social media presence, including a high-profile callout of Conor McGregor after a 2024 win in his hometown of St. Louis that drew reactions from across the sport.

Buckley’s sponsorship portfolio includes a partnership with hydration brand PureFuel and a deal with recovery and wellness brand ReAthlete, arrangements outlined by EssentiallySports alongside his standard UFC Venum kit compliance pay. His viral profile has made him an attractive name for combat sports and lifestyle brands looking to reach a younger, social media-driven audience, though his outside endorsement income remains modest compared to the sport’s biggest pay-per-view draws.

Outside the cage, Buckley has built a personal website that functions as a hub for promotions, sponsorship deals and merchandise sales, an income stream separate from his fight purses that is detailed in Anscamobile’s financial profile of the fighter. He has also branched into competitive freestyle wrestling, making his debut for the Real American Freestyle promotion in November 2025, where he lost to Pat Downey, before being booked for a high-profile crossover bout against former UFC champion Tyron Woodley in August 2026, a move documented on his Wikipedia profile that reflects his effort to build income and visibility beyond the UFC cage.

No verified real estate portfolio or major property holdings have been publicly reported for Buckley. EssentiallySports notes he was photographed with a Ford F-150 truck following his 2025 fight against Kamaru Usman, but otherwise describes him as maintaining a relatively low-key lifestyle compared to other UFC fighters at his level, with his personal spending kept largely out of public view.