UFC St. Louis Recap and Results

The UFC was back in the midwest tonight for their Fight Night in St. Louis and from the opening fight, the fighters brought the action. It was a fun night from start to finish and of course it was capped off by the heavyweight main event between Derrick Lewis (27-12) and Rodrigo Nascimento (11-1, 1 NC). Lewis closed the show with a huge knockout win in the third round.

The co-main event featured the biggest fan-favorite on the card as St. Louis’ own Joaquin Buckley (18-6) took on Nursulton Ruziboev (34-8-2) who was moving down from 185. Buckley used his power and wrestling to take the first two rounds and then he dominated the third round dropping Ruziboev. A huge win for Buckley who continues his impressive winning streak.

Fourth up on the main card was a light heavyweight matchup between Alonzo Menifield (15-4-1) and Carlos Ulberg (10-1). This fight had explosion written all over it and it delivered with Ulberg scoring a knockout in just 12 seconds.

The third fight on the main card featured lightweights Diego Ferreira (18-5) and Mateusz Rebecki (19-1). Rebecki was one of the biggest betting favorites at UFC St. Louis. He started out strong by dropping Diego Ferreira in the first round.

However, Ferreira outlasted him and came on strong in the final two rounds scoring a late TKO win in the third round. A big upset at UFC St. Louis.

The second fight of the main card was a featherweight matchup between Alex Caceres (21-15) and hometown favorite Sean Woodson (12-1-1). Both men did well and had an entertaining back-and-forth fight with Woodson winning a close decision.

The main card opener featured the big boys as Waldo Cortes-Acosta (12-1, 1 NC) took on Robelis Despaigne (5-1). Despaigne tried to come out fast like he normally does but he found himself getting taken down repeatedly. This ended up being the tale of the fight as Cortes-Acosta grinded out a decision.

UFC St. Louis Prelim Recap

Opening up the UFC St. Louis prelims was a women’s flyweight matchup between Veronica Hardy (9-4-1) and JJ Aldrich (13-7). Aldrich came on really strong late by dropping Hardy in the third round, but Hardy had banked the first two rounds and won a unanimous decision on the scorecards.

In the second prelim, St. Louis’ own Charles Johnson (15-6) took on Jake Hadley (10-3). It was a back-and-forth fight but the big moments belonged to Johnson who dropped Hadley in the second round. After three rounds, Johnson won a decision which excited the UFC St. Louis crowd.

The third prelim stole the show when Trey Waters (9-1) and Billy Goff (9-3) went to war. This fight didn’t have a ton of technique but both men threw caution to the wind and just slugged it out for fifteen minutes. I personally had Goff winning the fight live but all three judges gave the fight to Waters.

The fourth prelim featured the return of Tecia Pennington (13-7) as she took on Tabatha Ricci (10-2). Wasn’t the most action packed fight but Ricci was able to do enough with her grappling to win a close split decision and spoil the return of Pennington at UFC St. Louis.

The prelim of the night featured lightweights Terrance McKinney (15-6) and Esteban Ribovics (12-1). This was one of Dana White’s “If you don’t know” fights and it was easy to see why. Both men came out throwing heat and Ribovics slept McKinney in the first round with a head kick.

The featured prelim of the evening paired up lightweights Chase Hooper (13-3-1) and Viacheslav Borshchev (7-3-1). Hooper shocked everyone by dropping the striker Borshchev in the first round and then dominate the rest of the fight. It ended with a controversial submission with an argument over whether or not Borschev tapped, but the right man one at UFC St. Louis.