For all the beatings he received inside the boxing ring and the consecutive losses in the cage that sparked his exit from the UFC, at age 44, Tyron Woodley clearly entered their RAF 12 wrestling match as the man who was there to get beat. Yet, for all his drawbacks, the former UFC welterweight champion shocked everyone at the Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, by defeating the much younger Joaquin Buckley in what was his first win in almost 8 years.

That Woodley was far behind on scores only exacerbated the problem for Buckley, who comes off two consecutive losses in the UFC. Now with consecutive losses on the RAF, including his debut loss to Patrick Downey last year, Buckley’s prowess in wrestling has come under scrutiny. With Woodley mounting a comeback, footage of the match drew some strong reactions.

“Tyron Woodley just came back from down 8-1 to beat Joaquin Buckley at #RAF12 🔥,” read Championship Rounds’ X post.

The clip showed Buckley throwing Woodley, who was making his RAF debut tonight, to rack up 8 quick points. But, much to his surprise, and perhaps that of many others, the former champion rebounded by coming on the offensive in the second round.

In the final moment, Woodley bear-hugged Buckley and took him down to end the fight 14-8 in his favor.

While some were awed by Woodley’s strange reversal, others felt the holes in Buckley’s grappling skills became more glaring, especially with this being his second setback in the RAF.

Fans slam Joaquin Buckley after Tyron Woodley exposes his grappling at RAF

Mocking the St. Louis native, one fan wrote, “Can Cuckley ever get any sort of win ever again lol? 😭”

That disappointment stems from the fact that it leaves Buckley on a four-fight losing streak—two in the UFC and two in RAF. Given that he is scheduled to appear on UFC Fight Night 291 in October, the string of defeats does not bode well for the fighter, who will be under tremendous pressure to secure a win.

“I don’t know how Buckley lost. He’s so bad and has such an obvious weakness. Any wrestler in the UFC would beat him,” another fan added.

While Buckley is a highly athletic fighter known for his aggressive stand-up fighting approach, he is not really known for his grappling skills. Fifteen of his 21 wins have come by stoppage, which corroborates that point.

Echoing similar sentiments, another user asked, “How did it take so long for Buckley’s grappling to get exposed?”

The win clearly raised Woodley’s stock. One user wrote, “Could definitely make another title run in the UFC at the moment. Him vs Shavkat would be a toss-up.” With Woodley now long out of the UFC and on the wrong side of his forties, a return is highly unlikely. Even so, if a matchup with someone like Shavkat were to happen, it’s hard to imagine Woodley, even with his wrestling skills, giving the Uzbek fighter any trouble.

Woodley, however, could not escape some criticism either. “Imagine conceding 8 points in the realm of wrestling to Joaquin Buckley. Wasn’t this bum asking for GOAT shouts a few days ago? ” one fan taunted.

That comment centers on Woodley’s apparent push to be counted among the greatest mixed martial artists, feeling that he does not get the respect he deserves.

While Buckley looked bigger and also missed the weight by seven pounds, he likely faced a difficult challenge against a pedigreed fighter like Woodley, who comes from a wrestling background. His status as a two-time All-American bolsters that claim.

Buckley had his moments in the fight. But in the end, Woodley’s experience and skills eventually took over to secure a clear win.

More significantly, the loss might serve Buckley well, as he can now reflect and work on his grappling before opponents recognize the weakness and choose to pursue takedowns or submissions instead of standing with him.