Joaquin Buckley holds a 4-5 record in UFC bouts where he did not complete a single takedown. Without landing any successful takedowns, he managed to defeat Colby Covington, Vicente Luque, Albert Duraev, and Jordan Wright, with all victories coming by finish. In all fights Buckley has lost, he never secured a takedown on his opponent. This statistic raises questions ahead of his upcoming fight with Sean Brady this weekend, where his grappling effectiveness will be tested.
A quirky but telling statistical pattern surrounding Joaquin Buckley has emerged ahead of his welterweight clash with Sean Brady this weekend: in UFC bouts where Buckley failed to complete a single takedown, he holds a 4-5 record, with every one of his victories in that category coming by finish.
Among the fighters Buckley defeated without securing a takedown are Vicente Luque, Albert Duraev, and Jordan Wright, along with a notable win over Colby Covington. Equally striking is the other side of the ledger — in every UFC loss on his record, Buckley never managed to put his opponent on the canvas either. The pattern suggests his grappling output, or lack of it, is closely tied to his fortunes inside the octagon.
Brady, ranked seventh in the welterweight division at 33 years old, arrives as one of the more complete grapplers in the weight class. Fighting out of Renzo Gracie Philly, the orthodox 19-2 fighter lands 3.53 takedowns per 15 minutes and connects on 55 percent of his significant strikes, adding 0.9 submission attempts per 15 minutes as well. At five-foot-ten with a 72-inch reach, Brady is a compact, pressure-heavy competitor who consistently imposes his will on the mat.
Luque, one of Buckley's more prominent victims in the no-takedown column, carries a 24-12-1 record and generates a high-volume striking output of 4.83 significant strikes per minute. Duraev, who owns a 16-5 record, lands 1.97 takedowns per 15 minutes himself, making Buckley's finish of him without any grappling contribution a notable achievement.
Why it matters
- Buckley's 4-5 record without a takedown shows he can win that way, but the margin for error is thin
- Brady's 3.53 takedowns per 15 minutes makes him one of the division's more active wrestlers, putting direct pressure on that vulnerability
- Every loss in Buckley's UFC career has come in bouts where his takedown count was zero, sharpening the stakes around his grappling engagement this weekend
