Joaquin Buckley has compiled a 4-5 record in UFC fights where he failed to land a single takedown. Without completing any successful takedowns, he managed to defeat Colby Covington, Vicente Luque, Albert Duraev, and Jordan Wright, all by finish. In every fight Buckley has lost, he never secured a single takedown against his opponent. This weekend he faces Sean Brady, and the question is whether he can land at least one successful takedown. Buckley's inability to secure takedowns in his losses highlights a critical pattern in his fight outcomes.
Joaquin Buckley steps into a pivotal welterweight bout against Sean Brady this weekend carrying a telling statistical footnote: in every UFC fight he has lost, he never secured a single successful takedown against his opponent.
The pattern cuts both ways. Buckley owns a 4-5 record in UFC bouts where he failed to complete any takedowns, but those four wins came by finish against notable opponents. Among them were Colby Covington, Vicente Luque, Albert Duraev, and Jordan Wright — a run that demonstrates his finishing ability when things go his way on the feet. The losses in that same sample, however, paint a consistent picture of a fighter who struggles when he cannot establish any grappling presence.
Brady enters the fight ranked seventh in the welterweight division with a 19-2 record. The 33-year-old from the United States trains out of Renzo Gracie Philly and brings a well-rounded skill set. He lands 3.96 significant strikes per minute at a 55 percent accuracy rate, and his grappling is a genuine threat — he averages 3.53 takedowns per 15 minutes, a rate that could put Buckley's identified vulnerability directly under pressure.
Luque, one of Buckley's finished victims in the no-takedown column, carries a 24-12-1 record and is one of the division's more dangerous strikers, averaging 4.83 significant strikes per minute. Duraev, another opponent Buckley put away without a takedown, holds a 16-5 mark and averaged nearly two takedowns per 15 minutes in his own career.
Why it matters
- Buckley's 0-5 record in UFC losses without a takedown suggests the grappling dimension is a meaningful factor in his outcomes
- Brady's 3.53 takedowns per 15 minutes makes him one of the more active wrestlers Buckley has faced
- A welterweight ranked opponent at number seven means a win would significantly boost Buckley's divisional standing
- The stylistic question of whether Buckley can secure even one takedown may prove central to the result
