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Joaquin Buckley

Welterweight · REAL v1.0 (registered) #24; v1.1 (shadow) #15

Descriptive profile. The resume rank is what has been earned; these statistics are context, not a prediction. A test on Oct 20, 2026 found that career statistics add nothing reliable to age, layoff and experience as predictors of the next result (experiments/REGISTER.md, EXP-2026-10-20-14).

Weight band 22-24: the 10th to 90th percentile of his position across weight vectors drawn near the 70/30 weights. Rating 1,661, deviation 108: measured from 18 UFC bouts; a one-bout newcomer sits near 290.

Age 32 (born 1994-04-27) · Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) · Reach 76 in (193 cm) · Stance Southpaw · 15 days since last bout (2026-10-17) · Last five 2-3 · Streak L3

Why he is ranked here

Rating 1,661 is the division's 14th highest of 76 board fighters; the ledger stands at -0.4 (+2.6 from quality wins, less 3.0 for blowout losses; losses count for three years); 4 quality wins in 15 years, 2 over top-10 opponents; form penalty 0.15 for a 2-3 last five. Score +0.19 = +0.31 (rating term, 70% weight) +0.03 (ledger term, 30% weight) -0.15 (form penalty); score order put him at #24.

TermValueDetail
Score+0.1970% rating term + 30% ledger term - form penalty
Rating term+0.31resume rating 1,661, scaled against the division's interdecile range
Ledger term+0.03quality ledger -0.4: +2.6 QW +0.0 proof -3.0 blowout -0.0 weak
Form penalty0.15last five 2-3
Quality wins, 15 years42 over top-10 opponents, 3 over top-15
Placementscore order #24v1.0 (registered)
Shadow board v1.1#15score +0.21; score order #15

Rules, weights and worked examples: methodology.

Last ten bouts

DateEventOpponentOpp. official rankResultMethodRoundModel p
2026-10-17UFC Fight Night: Buckley vs. MalottMike Malott#13LKO/TKO2 (2:32)47%
2026-05-09UFC 328: Chimaev vs. StricklandSean Brady#6Lunanimous decision3 (5:00)50%
2025-06-14UFC Fight Night: Usman vs. BuckleyKamaru Usman#5Lunanimous decision5 (5:00)50%
2024-12-14UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. BuckleyColby Covington#6WKO/TKO3 (4:42)47%
2024-10-05UFC 307: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr.Stephen Thompson#9WKO/TKO3 (2:17)53%
2024-05-11UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. NascimentoNursulton RuziboevunrankedWunanimous decision3 (5:00)58%
2024-03-30UFC Fight Night: Blanchfield vs. FiorotVicente Luque#11WKO/TKO2 (3:17)38%
2023-10-07UFC Fight Night: Dawson vs. GreenAlex MoronounrankedWunanimous decision3 (5:00)45%
2023-05-20UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. HillAndre FialhounrankedWKO/TKO2 (4:15)66%
2022-12-10UFC 282: Blachowicz vs. AnkalaevChris Curtis#15LKO/TKO2 (2:49)51%

Opp. official rank = the UFC media-panel rank of the opponent on the date (C champion, #1 to #15, unranked; n/a before Feb 2013 or where no official board existed). Model p = the predictive model's pre-fight win chance for him (frozen performance-adjusted Elo; bouts before 2020 were in its tuning sample). Linked opponents have a profile.

Career statistics

Through 2026-10-31, UFC bouts only. Percentile = share of the 76 board fighters at Welterweight at or below this value; high is a position in the division, not a verdict.

Output
Significant strikes landed per minute3.55(34th percentile at Welterweight)
Significant strike accuracy36%(5th percentile at Welterweight)
Knockdowns scored per 15 minutes0.65(76th percentile at Welterweight)
Share of wins by finish73%(63rd percentile at Welterweight)
Defence and damage
Significant strikes absorbed per minute3.16(37th percentile at Welterweight)
Significant strike defence58%(76th percentile at Welterweight)
Knockdowns suffered per 15 minutes0.36(72nd percentile at Welterweight)
Significant strikes absorbed, career656(80th percentile at Welterweight)
KO/TKO losses4 (last 2026-10-17, 15 days ago)(97th percentile at Welterweight)
Submission losses0(66th percentile at Welterweight)
KO/TKO losses per bout over 10 years, each weighted down by the finisher's danger0.131(75th percentile at Welterweight)
Grappling
Takedowns landed per 15 minutes1.37(63rd percentile at Welterweight)
Takedown defence70%(57th percentile at Welterweight)
Share of cage time in control11%(37th percentile at Welterweight)
Share of significant strikes landed in the clinch or on the ground25%(60th percentile at Welterweight)
Stylemixed (3.0 takedown attempts per 15 min; 11% control)
Career stage
Age32.5(47th percentile at Welterweight)
Age at UFC debut26.3(35th percentile at Welterweight)
Years since UFC debut6.2(70th percentile at Welterweight)
UFC bouts18(86th percentile at Welterweight)
Cage time, minutes207(86th percentile at Welterweight)
Bouts per year, last three years2.3(89th percentile at Welterweight)
Days since last bout15(12th percentile at Welterweight)

Board position since Oct 2023

C102030405020252026Oct 2023Oct 20262023-10-06: #31, Middleweight2023-10-13: #41, Welterweight2023-10-20: #41, Welterweight2023-11-03: #41, Welterweight2023-11-10: #40, Welterweight2023-11-17: #39, Welterweight2023-12-01: #40, Welterweight2023-12-08: #39, Welterweight2023-12-15: #39, Welterweight2024-01-12: #39, Welterweight2024-01-19: #34, Welterweight2024-02-02: #34, Welterweight2024-02-09: #34, Welterweight2024-02-16: #33, Welterweight2024-02-23: #32, Welterweight2024-03-01: #32, Welterweight2024-03-08: #31, Welterweight2024-03-15: #30, Welterweight2024-03-22: #30, Welterweight2024-03-29: #30, Welterweight2024-04-05: #14, Welterweight2024-04-12: #14, Welterweight2024-04-26: #14, Welterweight2024-05-03: #14, Welterweight2024-05-10: #13, Welterweight2024-05-17: #13, Welterweight2024-05-31: #13, Welterweight2024-06-07: #13, Welterweight2024-06-14: #13, Welterweight2024-06-21: #13, Welterweight2024-06-28: #13, Welterweight2024-07-12: #12, Welterweight2024-07-19: #13, Welterweight2024-07-26: #13, Welterweight2024-08-02: #13, Welterweight2024-08-09: #14, Welterweight2024-08-16: #14, Welterweight2024-08-23: #14, Welterweight2024-09-06: #14, Welterweight2024-09-13: #12, Welterweight2024-09-27: #12, Welterweight2024-10-04: #12, Welterweight2024-10-11: #9, Welterweight2024-10-18: #9, Welterweight2024-10-25: #9, Welterweight2024-11-01: #8, Welterweight2024-11-08: #8, Welterweight2024-11-15: #9, Welterweight2024-11-22: #9, Welterweight2024-12-06: #9, Welterweight2024-12-13: #9, Welterweight2025-01-10: #6, Welterweight2025-01-17: #5, Welterweight2025-01-31: #5, Welterweight2025-02-07: #5, Welterweight2025-02-14: #5, Welterweight2025-02-21: #5, Welterweight2025-02-28: #5, Welterweight2025-03-07: #6, Welterweight2025-03-14: #6, Welterweight2025-03-21: #6, Welterweight2025-03-28: #6, Welterweight2025-04-04: #6, Welterweight2025-04-11: #6, Welterweight2025-04-25: #5, Welterweight2025-05-02: #5, Welterweight2025-05-09: #5, Welterweight2025-05-16: #6, Welterweight2025-05-30: #6, Welterweight2025-06-06: #6, Welterweight2025-06-13: #6, Welterweight2025-06-20: #8, Welterweight2025-06-27: #8, Welterweight2025-07-11: #8, Welterweight2025-07-18: #8, Welterweight2025-07-25: #8, Welterweight2025-08-01: #8, Welterweight2025-08-08: #8, Welterweight2025-08-15: #8, Welterweight2025-08-22: #8, Welterweight2025-09-05: #7, Welterweight2025-09-12: #7, Welterweight2025-09-26: #7, Welterweight2025-10-03: #7, Welterweight2025-10-10: #7, Welterweight2025-10-17: #7, Welterweight2025-10-24: #7, Welterweight2025-10-31: #7, Welterweight2025-11-07: #7, Welterweight2025-11-14: #7, Welterweight2025-11-21: #9, Welterweight2025-12-05: #9, Welterweight2025-12-12: #8, Welterweight2026-01-23: #7, Welterweight2026-01-30: #8, Welterweight2026-02-06: #8, Welterweight2026-02-20: #7, Welterweight2026-02-27: #8, Welterweight2026-03-06: #7, Welterweight2026-03-13: #7, Welterweight2026-03-20: #7, Welterweight2026-03-27: #7, Welterweight2026-04-03: #7, Welterweight2026-04-10: #7, Welterweight2026-04-17: #7, Welterweight2026-04-24: #7, Welterweight2026-05-01: #7, Welterweight2026-05-08: #7, Welterweight2026-05-15: #10, Welterweight2026-05-29: #10, Welterweight2026-06-05: #9, Welterweight2026-06-13: #10, Welterweight2026-06-19: #10, Welterweight2026-06-26: #10, Welterweight2026-07-10: #10, Welterweight2026-07-17: #10, Welterweight2026-07-24: #9, Welterweight2026-07-31: #9, Welterweight2026-08-07: #9, Welterweight2026-08-14: #9, Welterweight2026-08-21: #9, Welterweight2026-08-28: #9, Welterweight2026-09-04: #9, Welterweight2026-09-11: #9, Welterweight2026-09-18: #9, Welterweight2026-09-25: #9, Welterweight2026-09-26: #9, Welterweight2026-10-03: #9, Welterweight2026-10-10: #9, Welterweight2026-10-17: #21, Welterweight2026-10-24: #22, Welterweight2026-10-31: #24, Welterweight#24

Position on the registered v1.0 board at each weekly snapshot (C = title holder or reserved, drawn at the top; lower is better). Listed at Middleweight, then Welterweight over this period.

Predictive rating by bout

1,4001,5001,6001,7001,8002022202320242025Aug 2020Oct 20262020-08-08: 1,446 (L vs Kevin Holland)2020-10-10: 1,508 (W vs Impa Kasanganay)2020-11-21: 1,616 (W vs Jordan Wright)2021-01-16: 1,495 (L vs Alessio Di Chirico)2021-09-18: 1,540 (W vs Antonio Arroyo)2022-02-19: 1,552 (W vs Abdul Razak Alhassan)2022-06-18: 1,587 (W vs Albert Duraev)2022-09-03: 1,588 (L vs Nassourdine Imavov)2022-12-10: 1,586 (L vs Chris Curtis)2023-05-20: 1,592 (W vs Andre Fialho)2023-10-07: 1,634 (W vs Alex Morono)2024-03-30: 1,701 (W vs Vicente Luque)2024-05-11: 1,747 (W vs Nursulton Ruziboev)2024-10-05: 1,752 (W vs Stephen Thompson)2024-12-14: 1,795 (W vs Colby Covington)2025-06-14: 1,778 (L vs Kamaru Usman)2026-05-09: 1,718 (L vs Sean Brady)2026-10-17: 1,672 (L vs Mike Malott)1,672

Rating after each UFC bout from the frozen predictive model (performance-adjusted Elo, data/processed/elo_history.csv; a debut starts at 1,500). The resume rating's history is not stored, so this is the predictive line, which is a different number from the resume rating in the header.

Trajectory

Recent performances are in line with the rating (-20 points).

ComponentPointsMeaning
Age component-16what fighters aged 32.5 typically run relative to their rating (population curve, all UFC bouts since 2011)
Own recent results-4his recency-weighted mean and trend over 18 bouts, shrunk toward zero; trend -6 points a year
Combined-20the rating's likely distance from his current performance level, in rating points
Readingin line with ratingahead of, in line with (within 30 points), or behind the rating

Performance relative to the rating, by age

-1.0-0.5+0.0+0.5+1.02526272829303132332020-08-08 (age 26.3): L vs Kevin Holland, residual -0.452020-10-10 (age 26.5): W vs Impa Kasanganay, residual +0.632020-11-21 (age 26.6): W vs Jordan Wright, residual +0.512021-01-16 (age 26.7): L vs Alessio Di Chirico, residual -0.622021-09-18 (age 27.4): W vs Antonio Arroyo, residual +0.392022-02-19 (age 27.8): W vs Abdul Razak Alhassan, residual +0.012022-06-18 (age 28.1): W vs Albert Duraev, residual +0.412022-09-03 (age 28.4): L vs Nassourdine Imavov, residual -0.102022-12-10 (age 28.6): L vs Chris Curtis, residual -0.482023-05-20 (age 29.1): W vs Andre Fialho, residual +0.442023-10-07 (age 29.4): W vs Alex Morono, residual +0.512024-03-30 (age 29.9): W vs Vicente Luque, residual +0.702024-05-11 (age 30.0): W vs Nursulton Ruziboev, residual +0.292024-10-05 (age 30.4): W vs Stephen Thompson, residual +0.552024-12-14 (age 30.6): W vs Colby Covington, residual +0.632025-06-14 (age 31.1): L vs Kamaru Usman, residual -0.062026-05-09 (age 32.0): L vs Sean Brady, residual -0.482026-10-17 (age 32.5): L vs Mike Malott, residual -0.61-0.03

Each dot is one decided UFC bout at his age then: the performance score minus the rating's expectation, on the score's own scale from -1 to +1 (filled = win, hollow = loss; above zero is better than the rating implied; a finish as a slight favourite is about +0.45). The dashed line is the population curve for all fighters; the solid line is this fighter's own fitted level and trend as of the data date, weighted toward recent bouts. One unit sustained over many bouts corresponds to about 695 rating points; a single bout's residual is noisy.

Held-out evidence (walk-forward 2016 to 2026, EXP-2026-10-21-01): the age curve held in every test year; the individual component is a weak signal (correlation 0.06 with the next bout's residual; among fighters aged 33 or over, the lowest predicted quartile won 38% of next bouts against 53% expected, the highest 48% against 52%) and adds nothing to bout prediction beyond the shadow model. No board uses any of it: the rankings answer who has earned the place, not who wins next (EXP-2026-10-20-09). Method: src/mmalab/decline.py; settings: config/decline.yaml (expectation from the resume rating; one unit of residual is about 695 rating points).

Context flags

Descriptive only. Each line is a population fact about fighters like him, not a forecast for him; the register entries hold the measurements.

REAL v1.0 (registered method) · build c166ee8 · data through 2026-10-31 · page built 2026-11-06 · changelog. Independent fan research project built on public UFCStats data. Not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by UFC, Zuffa, LLC, TKO Group Holdings, or any athlete. All trademarks belong to their owners and are used only to identify athletes and events.