The best sports highlight from the weekend was easily from Joaquin Buckley in the UFC, who hit Impa Kasanganay in the face with a spinning kick and knocked him the fuck out. If you’ve already seen it and thought “that’s straight out of a fighting game”, you are correct!
If you haven’t seen it, here it is (skip to around 0:25):
Not that Buckley was explicitly paying homage to Tekken in any way when he pulled off the move—he hasn’t mentioned it since. It’s still incredible to see his spinning heel kick, launched in this instance while Kasanganay was already holding his other foot, and it’s practically identical to Lee’s Mist Trap move from Tekken.
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As some commentators have pointed out, this is a sweet Taekwondo move. This isn’t a Taekwondo blog, though, so we’re calling it a Tekken move, thanks.
Oh, and to continue the fighting game spirit, this fight was one of the bouts taking place in the fifth event to be held on the UFC’s Fight Island.
DISCUSSION
The moment Kasanganay caught Buckley’s foot and then didn’t immediately do anything with it is really what puzzles me. Probably a reflex but not immediately going for a take down or throw really messed him up here.
This clip is probably going to be on every highlight reel from now until 2077.