UFC St Louis: Lewis vs Nascimento - May 11 🇺🇸

[wandshogun09]

It looks like an Apex card but it’s not. Off to St Louis, Missouri with this lot…

ESPN MAIN CARD
Derrick Lewis vs Rodrigo Nascimento 

Joaquin Buckley vs Nursulton Ruziboev

Alonzo Menifield vs Carlos Ulberg 

Alex Caceres vs Sean Woodson

Carlos Diego Ferreira vs Mateusz Rebecki

Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs Robelis Despaigne

ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS 
Chase Hooper vs Viacheslav Borshchev

Terrance McKinney vs Esteban Ribovics

Trey Waters vs Billy Goff

Tabatha Ricci vs Tecia Pennington

Jake Hadley vs Charles Johnson

Jared Gooden vs Kevin Jousset 

JJ Aldrich vs Veronica Hardy

 

This card is gonna get shat all over and it does look weaker than your usual non-Apex Fight Night. But I honestly think there’s not much wrong with this card that a decent main event wouldn’t have cured. That headliner is the shits. No getting away from it. But there’s some fun stuff lower down the card. Joaquin Buckley is actually from St Louis and was campaigning hard for the main event spot here. Even went as far as to harass Dana about it at the UFC 300 press conference/Q&A or whatever it was. He rightly said that no-one wants a Lewis-Nascimento main event. Then within a few days, that poster dropped, confirming Buckley wasn’t gonna get his wish. Bollocks.

 

So Derrick Lewis vs Rodrigo Nascimento it is then. Whether we like it or not. You’ve probably guessed by now I’m not a fan of this. The matchup itself is whatever. Lewis is coming off a bad loss so I don’t have a big problem with them scaling his opposition back like this. But having it as a main event of anything is a bit much. Even on an Apex card, this would’ve been a shite main event. But for a Fight Night they’re taking on the road and charging tickets for, it’s the absolute dregs. Obviously Lewis is still one of the more popular Heavyweights on the roster. With the right opponent, him headlining a Fight Night is fine. But against Nascimento? I’m guessing there’s a decent sized chunk of the fanbase who don’t even know who Nascimento is! I mean they’re both ranked as I type this. Lewis is at #12, Nascimento has just about entered the rankings at #15. But that says more about the state of the division at the moment than anything else.

Yeah, we all love the ‘Black Beast’ but it seems like the party is almost over at this point. He’s 39 now, which isn’t even that old for a Heavyweight, but he’s had 40 fights and he not only hit his ceiling years ago, he’s continued to keep banging his head against it repeatedly. He’s lost 4 of his last 5 fights and really hasn’t made any significant improvements to his game…well, ever really. That might sound harsh but you can go back years and years through his career and the guy who got beat up by Mark Hunt in 2017, the guy who scored that mad comeback KO against Alexander Volkov in 2018, the guy who challenged Daniel Cormier for the title at MSG and got squashed and the guy who iced Curtis Blaydes with a horrifying uppercut…they’re all the same guy we see in 2024. He’s always been the same, zero evolution. Heavy hands but his entire grappling game seems to consist of ‘just standing up’ when taken down. If that doesn’t work he generally gets subbed. But he’s also had a tendency to kind of check out when things get rough in there.

He’s pushing 40 now so he is what he is at this stage. Probably doesn’t have many fights left but, in fairness, I’ve thought that for a few years now and here we are. He did sign a new 8 fight contract over the summer, which sort of baffled me. He was coming off that quick KO win over Marcos Rogerio De Lima at the time and I thought for sure he’d go after that PFL money and the Francis Ngannou rematch. But I’m not sure he even entertained offers from other promotions. If he did, it wasn’t for long because he seemed to sign that 8 fight deal with the UFC almost as soon as he became a free agent. And what thanks did he get for his loyalty? As soon as the UFC had him locked into another contract, he was matched up with Jailton Almeida. Possibly the worst style matchup for Lewis and in enemy territory in Brazil. To be fair, it wasn’t the original plan. It was supposed to be Almeida vs Blaydes but Blaydes dropped out. Lewis stepped in but even then he said they “tricked him” into accepting it…

Something to do with not wanting to fight in Brazil because of the taxes. And he said the matchmakers offered him the fight but never told him it was in Brazil until he’d already accepted. Who the fuck knows? Either way, it’s too late now. Lewis is locked into that contract for the foreseeable. Most likely for the remainder of his career really. He looked fucking terrible in that loss to Almeida as well. One of the worst fights of 2023 and, while Jailton caught most of the flack for it, Lewis was just as much to blame. More, in my opinion. All I could think watching it was that I bet Lewis regretted re-signing with the UFC and wished he pursued that Ngannou fight in PFL, and especially the $2M payday that would’ve come with it.

Nascimento’s first UFC main event. It says it all that even with Lewis in a bad slump and on awful form, this fucker is still so clearly the B-Side here. Looks totally out of place on the poster. I watch almost everything, there aren’t that many fights I miss and even I can barely tell you anything about Nascimento from memory. Which is bad because he’s been on the roster since 2019. Almost 5 years! He’s 31 years old and 11-1-0-1 with 8 finishes. Not the worst record numbers-wise but when you look closer his best career wins are a couple of split decisions over Tanner Boser and Ilir Latifi, neither of which were kept around long after. Oh and he’s 2-0 over Don’Tale Mayes! No doubt the likes of Aspinall and Pavlovich are quaking in their boots about this fella.

Haven’t got a good feeling about this at all. There’s always the hope and possibility when Lewis faces these lower ranked guys that he’ll score a big knockout. But honestly, don’t be surprised if he drops a bollock again here. From what I do remember about Nascimento (which is admittedly not much), he’s predominantly a grappler. You know how that can go with Lewis. I’m hoping for a Lewis KO but I won’t be at all surprised if Nascimento just drags him about en route to an abysmally dull decision. Seriously, nothing against Nascimento and this is a nice opportunity for him. Lewis is still a big name and Nascimento does have a style that could cause the Beast all manner of problems. But there’s no dressing it up, this is dead on arrival as a main event.

 

Joaquin Buckley vs Nursulton Ruziboev is a late addition and is now the co-main event. Buckley gets his hometown fight after all! He was pushing hard to headline this show but the matchmakers Heavyweight hard-on scuppered his plans. I’d still have rathered this as main event over Lewis vs Nascimento myself but whatever. It’ll be cool to see Buckley get to fight in his backyard. It’s a fun fight, I think.

There’s your semi-regular reminder of Buckley’s KO against Impa Kasanganay back in October 2020. One of the greatest knockouts in UFC history. A modified enziguri Owen Hart himself would’ve been proud of! Whatever Buckley does in the remainder of his career, this is probably the thing he’ll be remembered most for. Incredible KO. It doesn’t have the significance or the crazy context of, say, Holloway vs Gaethje to give a recent example. But just in terms of pure style points and being so jaw dropping aesthetically, it’s up there at the top of the list for me. Anyway, Buckley’s on a nice little run of form at the minute. He’s 18-6 now with 13 knockouts, and since dropping back to Welterweight last year, he’s won his last 3 fights. He’s coming into this fight on a quick turnaround having just scored probably his biggest career win to date, TKOing Vicente Luque on the Atlantic City card at the end of March. He immediately called for the UFC to switch things up and put him as the main event in St Louis. He didn’t quite get his wish but I guess this is the next best thing.

Ruziboev is a risky fight for him on paper though. I’m not gonna pretend to know a ton about this guy. Just haven’t seen enough of him yet. But so far, he’s looked a bit of a handful. He’s from Uzbekistan, 30 years old and already has a record of 34-8-2-2 with 32 of his wins not requiring judges. Granted a lot of his opposition is gonna be unknown but it’s all experience and he’s looked dangerous in the UFC as well since making his debut last year. He brutally knocked out Brunno Ferreira in just over a minute in his UFC debut. He then fought on the Atlantic City card in March, the same night Buckley beat Luque, and Ruzi stopped Sedriques Dumas with eyepokes leading to a TKO. Usually I’d feel sorry for the guy getting eyepoked but Dumas is a cunt so sod him. Ruziboev is an interesting one. Sherdog has him listed at 6’2” but Tapology and the UFC’s official ‘Tale Of The Tape’ has/had him at 6’5”! And he’s dropping to 170 for this fight. Not sure what the future looks like for him but with his size and power, KO and submission ability and his experience at a relatively young age, he seems to be in a great position to make a proper run over the next few years. Time will tell. He’s a bit of a mystery at the moment.

 

Alonzo Menifield vs Carlos Ulberg could be an entertaining fight. By modern day Light Heavyweight standards, it’s not bad for a mid level fight. Menifield is ranked #12 at LHW so it’s an opportunity for Ulberg (currently unranked) to crack into that Top 15. Menifield is 15-3-1 with 13 finishes and is coming off a points win over Dustin Jacoby in December. He also knocked out Paul Craig early in his UFC run. Ulberg is from New Zealand, 9-1 with 7 finishes and is on a 5 fight win streak. He’s stopped Ihor Potieria and Da Un Jung in his last two outings. They’re both into their 30s now and I don’t see them climbing too much further up the ladder. But they’re alright middle of the pack fighters for 205.

 

Alex Caceres vs Sean Woodson is one of the standout fights on the card for me. Could easily see these two banking some bonus money. Woodson’s a bit of an unsung entertaining fighter, I think. He’s had some really good fights over the years that have gone under the radar. The Julian Erosa fight in 2020 was fantastic. He also scored a peach of a body shot stoppage on Collin Anglin in 2021 and a flying knee KO over Terrance McKinney on DWCS in 2019. And you know what you’re getting out of Bruce Leroy.

We’ve come to expect fun fights out of him. There’s a reason he’s been kept on the roster for 13 years despite clocking up a 16-12-0-1 UFC record. Win or lose, he’s been propping up prelims and undercards for donkeys years with entertaining fights. And he’s had his main card moments along the way as well. He submitted Sergio Pettis and handed him the first loss of his career back in 2014. I remember him giving Urijah Faber a good fight before Faber got to him late in their fight. Took Yair Rodriguez to a split decision in their 2016 main event as well. And even now, at nearly 36 years old, he’s in a position where he’s won 7 of his last 9. He lost to Giga Chikadze on points last time out but, on the whole, he’s doing alright for where he is. He’s never gonna go on a run at the title but his longevity as a lighter weight class fighter has been pretty cool to see. Fucker was on the TUF season with GSP and Josh Koscheck as coaches! That’s how long he’s been knocking about. Can’t really see any way this is anything less than a belter.

 

Carlos Diego Ferreira vs Mateusz Rebecki is a fight where I like the pairing but it definitely has the feel of ‘out with the old, in with the new’ matchmaking. I know it’s part of the game and always will be but it still feels a bit shitty regardless. I’ve always quite liked Ferreira. He’s been in the UFC since 2014 and he’s 39 now. He’s had a respectable 10 year run and has some solid wins over the likes of Anthony Pettis, Jared Gordon and Olivier Aubin-Mercier. He also had two proper bangers against Beneil Dariush but went 0-2 against him, and he fought and lost to Dustin Poirier in 2015. He’s knocked around a bit. We last saw him in May last year, knocking out Michael Johnson in brutal fashion…

That was a win he desperately needed. He was on a 3 fight losing streak going in and that KO probably saved him from getting the chop. At pushing 40, he’s on borrowed time anyway, harsh as that sounds. But I was happy to see him snap that losing skid and stop the rot anyway. Poland’s Rebecki is 31 years old, trains out of ATT and he’s 19-1 with 16 wins inside the distance. He’s finished Loik Radzhabov and Roosevelt Roberts in his last 2 fights. He’s also on a 16 fight winning streak. So…you know what this is. You know what the matchmakers are going for. Part of me wants to see Ferreira flip the script and ruin their plans but I don’t mind Rebecki either from what I’ve seen so far. Just gonna sit back and hope for a good fight.

 

Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs Robelis Despaigne is ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** here. Very rare that I highlight a Heavyweight fight on these Fight Nights but here we are. And trust me, it’s got nothing whatsoever to do with ‘Salsa Boy’ Acosta. I’ve made no secret I’m not a fan of him. He’s fought 5 times in the UFC and I’ve hated 4 of those fights. He had that one big KO win over Lukasz Brzeski in there but, aside from that, he’s been fucking rancid to watch. His decision loss against Marcos Rogerio De Lima and his decision wins over Jared Vanderaa, Chase Sherman and Andrei Arlovski have been among the worst Heavyweight fights I’ve seen in recent memory. And you know that covers some ground when we’re talking about bad Heavyweight fights. I think the thing that I dislike most about him though is his arrogance about it. Always taunting and talking shite and dancing during fights. He always seems way too pleased with himself considering how rotten his fights are and how he’s going the distance with nobodies and old relics. Needless to say, I’m hoping Despaigne obliterates him.

He made his Octagon debut at UFC 299 in March and crushed Josh Parisian in just 18 seconds. He might completely fizzle out at any time and chances of that are high, to be honest. The Heavyweight division is a lottery at the best of times and Despaigne is such a late starter to MMA. He’s 35 years old now and only 5-0. But man, it feels like a long time since we saw a Heavyweight come along like this. An Olympic bronze medalist in Taekwondo, 6’7” in height, longest reach in UFC history and his last 4 fights have lasted a combined 37 seconds! Insane. Basically, he’s the type of Heavyweight you just know Pride would’ve been all the fuck over if they were still in business. Obviously, with the unpredictable nature of the division, Despaigne’s late start and him probably having zero grappling coming from a pure striking background…his bubble is probably gonna burst sooner rather than later. But I hope he’s at least good enough to chin a few of these lower level jabronis before someone ends the fun.

 

Chase Hooper vs Viacheslav Borshchev is a total throwback to the old style vs style days of the sport. It’s actually kind of mad that a fight like this is still happening in 2024 but I quite like it. Obviously you still get your fighters who are stronger and weaker in certain areas but this is just about as close to a pure grappler vs pure striker matchup as you’re gonna get in this day and age. Hooper has some striking but his game is mostly grappling from what I’ve seen. And Slava Claus? He’s ALL standup. His wrestling is practically nonexistent. That was evident when he got wrestled into oblivion in back-to-back fights by Marc Diakiese and Mike Davis. He bounced back with a vicious knockout win over Maheshate and then went to a draw with Nazim Sadykhov in a fantastic fight on the MSG card in November.

🤣 It was such an exciting fight it was almost a shame it went to a draw. But at the same time, it was the kind of fight where neither man deserved to be called a loser. One of the more fun under the radar fights of 2023. I’m torn on this fight. I like them both and I can obviously see a clear path to victory for both. They’re both strongest where the other is weakest. I don’t wanna see either take another L but probably rooting for Slav more just because he’s a bit older and really can’t afford another loss. Hooper’s had some tough losses but bounced back nicely after moving up to 155 a couple of fights ago. Ah, I don’t know. This is gonna be bittersweet either way but it’ll be kind of cool to watch the clash of styles.

 

Terrance McKinney vs Esteban Ribovics is gonna be a fun one. Say what you want about McKinney, and he definitely has his flaws as a fighter, but win or lose there’s never a dull moment. Right from his UFC debut when he knocked out Matt Frevola in 7 seconds, it set the tone. He’s fought 8 times in the UFC so far, 6 of them haven’t gone past a round and none of them went past 2 rounds. He’s had his setbacks and I get the feeling he’s a bit of a front runner. He’s a stupidly fast starter but it seems like if he can’t blast the opponent away early, he fades a bit. He’s coming off a couple of quick TKO wins now though. Low level opposition, it was only Mike Breeden and Brendan Marotte. But wins are wins.

There he is steamrolling Marotte in October. Whole thing only lasted 20 seconds! He won’t go much higher, especially in a division as strong as Lightweight, but it’s always worth tuning in for his fights. And Ribovics should make for a cracking scrap with him. He’s Argentinian, 28 years old and has a record of 12-1 with 11 finishes. I haven’t seen much of him yet, just his two UFC fights and he’s gone 1-1 so far. But I enjoyed both fights a lot. Not sure how many saw them because I think both were on the Fight Pass prelims, but he was great to watch in defeat against Loik Radzhabov, then he came back with a win over Kamuela Kirk at UFC 290 in July. Don’t blink during this one.

 

Trey Waters vs Billy Goff. Not familiar enough with either of these two really but I’ll go through the motions. Waters is 29 years old, 6’5” which is big for a Welterweight and he’s 8-1 with 6 finishes. He beat Josh Quinlan on points in his UFC debut in April last year. His only loss to date was against Gabriel Bonfim on DWCS. Goff is 25 years old, 9-2 with 7 by KO/TKO and he’s on a 7 fight win streak. He made his Octagon debut on the Holloway vs Zombie card last August and stopped Yusaku Kinoshita in a round with a nasty bodyshot. So yeah, haven’t seen a lot of these two but that’s not to say it’s a bad fight. I’m just not up on these two. Looking at their records, finishing rates and factoring in Waters height, it’s a fairly interesting matchup on paper.

 

Tabatha Ricci vs Tecia Pennington is whatever. Might be alright, I don’t hate the matchup, but I’m not counting the days or anything either. Pennington is, of course, formerly known as Tecia Torres. Her and Raquel Pennington got married apparently. They had a baby girl last year and Tecia carried and gave birth to the baby, which is why she’s been out of action since April 2022. She lost on points to Mackenzie Dern in her last fight and it’s been so long now I can’t even remember how she looked. And fuck knows how she’s gonna do now coming off 2 years away, and not just away, but giving birth and all the distractions and responsibilities that come with becoming a parent. Fair play to her but my memories of her as a fighter aren’t the best. I do remember an absolute banger she had against Rose Namajunas in Invicta very early into both their careers. But I’m not sure how that would hold up on a rewatch and I found her UFC fights mostly pretty boring.

‘Baby Shark’ Ricci is knocking on the door of a Top 10 ranking at Strawweight. She’s #11 at the moment. So it’s a bit odd that she’s been matched up with an unranked opponent who’s coming off a long layoff here. This matchup really doesn’t do a great deal for her, does it? Although she is coming off a split decision loss to Loopy Godinez so I guess she’s not in a position to really make demands or callouts towards the Top 10. She’s not a bad little fighter but she hasn’t really proven herself at a high level yet. Her best wins so far are grapplephobe Polyana Viana, a 40 year old Jessica Penne and Gillian Robertson in a fairly forgettable decision. She’s been active though and catching Tecia coming off a 2 year layoff here, she should probably be winning this.

 

Jake Hadley vs Charles Johnson is a cracking fight. I didn’t pick it as my ‘one to watch’ but if I had to predict what will probably end up being the FOTN, I’d say this is my front runner. Really enjoying the Flyweight division. It’s not quite as good as Bantamweight, Featherweight or Lightweight but if you can get past the Groundhog Day title picture there’s some ridiculously exciting fighters in at 125lbs and it feels like it’s just a matter of time before the division really catches fire. These two have been consistently fun to watch on the undercards and prelims over the last couple of years. Hadley’s someone I wanted to root for being a fellow Brummie but I just can’t take to him at all. He’s coming off a points loss to Cody Durden in August in an incredible fight.

Bit of a hidden gem from 2023 that. It didn’t get much discussion, even at the time, but it was a hell of a fight. I find both quite unlikeable so it was a bit of a heel vs heel match for me but, fair’s fair, it was some scrap. Hadley had finished Carlos Candelario and Malcolm Gordon before that and at one point it seemed like the big UK domestic grudge match with Muhammad Mokaev might be on the cards but that loss to Durden completely shelved that and Mokaev’s onto bigger things now. Johnson is coming off a really good fight himself. He beat Azat Maksum by decision on an Apex card in February. He snapped a 3 fight losing streak with that win and called for a fight on UFC 300 after. He didn’t get his wish but it’s nice to see him on a card with a crowd here. He’s fought 7 times in the UFC and his last 6 have been at the sodding Apex! No good. This has show stealer written all over it for me.

 

Jared Gooden vs Kevin Jousset is just there. Filler. Gooden’s 23-9 and has been on and off the roster over the last few years. He went a miserable 1-4 in his first stint, went away and won some fights, was brought back last March as a short notice replacement and immediately missed weight and lost to Carlston Harris. He came back in December and actually had a really entertaining fight with Wellington Turman, which Gooden won by submission and bagged a POTN bonus. That was a pleasant surprise for me because I’ve never rated Gooden or Turman. A case of two wrongs actually making a right! Jousset is a City Kickboxing guy out of New Zealand. He’s 30 years old and 10-2 with 5 finishes. He’s gone 2-0 in the UFC so far with wins over Kiefer Crosbie and Song Kenan. Can’t even recall if I saw those fights. If I did, nothing has stuck in my memory about them.

 

JJ Aldrich vs Veronica Hardy is the curtain jerker. Third time straight Hardy’s kicking off the Fight Pass prelims. They’ve been lower level fights so it’s not outrageous they’ve been on the Fight Pass stream but part of me thinks it’s directly Dana being a dick. We all know Dan Hardy’s not on Dana’s Christmas card list so burying Dan’s wife as far down the card as possible sounds like a decision that came from him. Could be a coincidence but would it shock anyone? Dan’s publicly said that when Veronica fought at UFC 286 in London last year, he was banned from all her fight week activities except the weigh in. Never underestimate the pettiness of the big pink multi-millionaire man child Dana White.

Team Hardy here.

I’ve been sceptical about Veronica going into her last couple of fights. I was rooting for her but wasn’t really confident about her chances based on her early UFC fights. She had a 3 year layoff between 2020-23, not sure why, but since she returned last year she’s gone 2-0 and looked pretty good from what I remember. I still wouldn’t say I’m confident about her winning and she still lacks in the grappling department. But she seems fully committed to getting better and the girl she beat last time was undefeated going in. Love to see her keep winning. For one, she seems cool when I’ve seen her on Dan’s YouTube channel and also, you know Dana’s gonna hate it if she starts climbing the rankings. Aldrich has been on the roster since 2016 somehow! Had no idea she’d been around that long, which doesn’t say much good about how memorable her performances have been. She’s 13-6 and coming off a couple of wins herself. Team Hardy!

 

 

That’ll do. Another Heavyweight headliner…

Edited Tuesday at 04:52 PM by wandshogun09

[Egg Shen]

Yeah the fact they are doing this in front of a crowd rubbishes the idea that the UFC is staying at the Apex because of the sub-standard cards.

[wandshogun09]

@Egg Shen The plague is spreading as well.

[Zebra Kid Mark]

11 hours ago, Egg Shen said:

Yeah the fact they are doing this in front of a crowd rubbishes the idea that the UFC is staying at the Apex because of the sub-standard cards.

Part of me hopes that they are testing out how a shit Apex style card does in front of a live audience. If it's a success, it might encourage them to leave the Apex knowing that they don't have to load the cards with top guys when they go on the road.

That's probably wishful thinking though.

I will watch this show purely because it's in front of a live audience, if it was in the Apex, I would skip it. I haven't skipped a show for over a decade, but all of the Apex cards in 2024 I haven't bothered watching. They have been too weak.

[Egg Shen]

9 hours ago, Zebra Kid Mark said:

Part of me hopes that they are testing out how a shit Apex style card does in front of a live audience. If it's a success

It'll do great, the UFC sells tickets wherever it goes.

[wandshogun09]

Buckley managed to get on the card in the end. New co-main…

I’ve updated the opening post and redone the poll. 

[wandshogun09]

Bout order’s been reshuffled. Still not an amazing card but it looks a bit better now they’ve rightly bumped the Despaigne fight and Ferreira vs Rebecki to the main card.

I don’t even think it’s that bad overall for a Fight Night card, it’s the main event that’s dragging it down more than anything. Stick an actual decent headliner on this and it’s fine. All the main card fights minus the main event should be entertaining enough and - even on the prelims - Hooper vs Slav, McKinney vs Ribovics and Hadley vs Johnson could be a lot of fun.

Honestly, if it was up to me I’d have just pulled the trigger and had Lewis vs Despaigne headline. Fuck it. At 35, time is of the essence with Despaigne. Chucking him in there would’ve been better than anything involving this Nascimento ham and egger.