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Reasons to Watch UFC Fight Night: St. Luis

 

Sat, May 11 / 7:00 PM EDT

Enterprise Center, St. Louis United States

 

 

 

 

Bye Rio and big ass latinas on the beach. Hello St Luis and big ass people eating BBQ. UFC heads to the gateway city this Saturday, where the heavies will make their return.

 

UFC 301 raised the question if 125 pound men can headline a fight card. I don’t know the answer for sure, but I do know 225 pound men can. Fast forward to UFC St. Luis, where Derick Lewis will be headlining and looking to put on a show for fans.

 

Without further ado, let’s get into the main and co-main, as well as why you should be excited to watch the fights this Saturday.

 

 

Heavyweight Bout

Derick Lewis (27-12, #12) vs Rodrigo Nascimento (11-1, #15)

 

 

Who doesn’t love Derick Lewis? It’s was up and down for the “black beast” in 2023. Last November, he was out grappled pretty handily by Jailton Almeida. In the summertime though, he had one of the most iconic flying knee knockouts in recent memory, followed by one of the most iconic press conferences.

 

 

 

 

 

One thing remains certain though.. Derick Lewis holds the all time UFC knockout record with 14. Can he extend the streak? And more importantly, will the shorts come off again? He does face another grappler in Nascimento, which isn’t Derick’s strong suit..

 

Prediction: Derick Lewis does Derick Lewis things and wins by KO. Nascimento isn’t as polished a grappler as Almeida. Besides, Ju Jitsu isn’t real, you can always just stand up and walk away.

 

 

 

 

Bonus: Kill some time before the fight and watch the black beast take down some chicken wings..

 

 

 

LINK: Derick Lewis Hot Ones 

 

 

Welterweight Bout

Joaquin Buckley (18-6, #11) vs Nursultan Ruziboev (34-8-2, NR)

 

 

Joaquin Buckley has been on a heater lately. First, he secured a ground and pound stoppage vs a tough test in Vicente Luque. Then he caused terror in Vegas around UFC 300 when he not only crashed the press conference, but was also walking around town putting up “missing” posters with welterweight champ Leon Edward’s picture on it. To top it all off, he had to leave Vegas to go home and welcome into the world his baby girl.

 

 

 

LINK: Joaquin Buckley Crashes UFC 300 Press Conference

 

 

 

 

He looks to keep the momentum going as he takes on a veteran in Nursultan Ruziboev. Ruziboev has been around the game a long time, but only has two fights in the UFC.. which he won both by knockout. As a matter of fact, out of his 34 victories, 32 were finished inside the distance (12 TKO/KOs, 20 submissions).

 

Buckley has some serious explosive power himself - he likes to push the pace and use his boxing and quick hands to fight inside the pocket. One thing is for sure this fight won’t be lacking excitement. I would be remiss if I didnt show one of my favorite knockouts of all time from Buckley..

 

 

 

 

Prediction: I simply think Buckley’s striking is at a higher level. As long as he avoids getting caught in something if and when they hit the mat, I think he will be able to out box Ruziboev.

 

Buckley by KO, and the train keeps rolling as he moves up the rankings.

 

 

Other Intrigue

 

 

 

 

Robelis Despaigne. The heavyweight out of Cuba is a monster of a man. He made a statement in his UFC debut and made quick work of his opponent, leaving many to wonder how far he can go. Here is the tale of the tape in his short MMA career:

 

- MMA Record: 5 wins, 0 losses

- 5 first round KOs 

- 4 fights finished in < 20 seconds 

- 6’7”, 86” reach

 

Who knows the potential Despaigne has - I can’t wait to see him in action again this weekend. I think there is a chance he has a meteoric rise through heavyweight, and doesn’t have a lot of trouble till he gets to the top 5.

 

Waldo Cortez-Acosta will be looking across the octogon when his corner asks him if he is actually going to fightb "that". He will respond "I am going to kill that".

 

 

R.I.P. Red Viper (as well as Cortez-Acosta)

 

 

Well there you have it. UFC St. Luis is set to be a banger of a card. There’s no doubt this will help hold over any UFC fans that are champing at the bit to see UFC 302 in June.

 

I expect fireworks on Saturday. The Gilly lock is there will be 3 knockouts on the main card.. so don’t you dare miss it.