Mike Malott Knee KO Flattens Buckley in Edmonton

Mike Malott threw a head kick, and his knee did the rest. The Canadian welterweight caught Joaquin Buckley flush on the jaw with the knee midway through the second round, followed with one big punch, and knocked him out at 2:32 of Round 2 in the UFC Edmonton main event on Saturday.

Rogers Place lost its mind. Malott, fighting in front of a home crowd, has now won five straight, all of them in Canada, and this was his second consecutive main event finish, per UFC.com.

How the knee landed

For a round and a half, this was a chess match. Both men were patient in the first, landing a handful of shots without either one taking control, and the second started the same way.

Then it ended in a blink. As Buckley dipped in to throw a punch, Malott fired a kick, and his knee met Buckley's chin. MMA Junkie described Buckley's momentum carrying him forward onto all fours before Malott finished him with a punch, leaving him face down on the canvas.

It is the kind of finish that ends up on every year-end highlight reel, and CBS Sports already called it a KO of the Year contender.

Where Malott goes from here

Malott, 34, moves to 15-2-1 in MMA and 8-1 in the UFC. UFC.com expects him to land in the welterweight top 10 when the rankings update next week, which would make this the biggest night of his career so far.

Buckley, 32, falls to 21-9 overall and 11-7 in the UFC. It is his third straight loss, after back-to-back defeats against Kamaru Usman and Sean Brady.

The win also closed out a big night for Malott's camp. His teammate Jasmine Jasudavicius won the co-main event, outgrappling Erin Blanchfield over the first two rounds on her way to a unanimous decision (29-28 on all three cards) that should push her into the flyweight title conversation.

A night of finishes in Edmonton

The card itself was wild. According to UFC.com, the first 11 bouts all ended inside the distance, and 12 of the 13 fights never needed the judges. That tied the UFC records for most consecutive stoppages to open a card and most stoppages in a single event.

The co-main was the only fight that went to the scorecards. Everyone else, Malott included, made sure the judges had an easy night.

Fantasy MMA players who backed the home fighter got the finish points to go with the win.

Malott now has five wins in a row, a highlight the whole sport is passing around, and a real case for a ranked name next. Canada has its welterweight, and he just made a statement nobody in the division can ignore.