UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Nascimento Preview
The UFC hits St. Louis for this weekend's Fight Night. In the co-main event, hometown brawler Joaquin Buckley takes on the red-hot Nursulton Ruziboev. In the main event, a legendary veteran will face off against a newly ranked scrapper when Derrick Lewis takes on Rodrigo Nascimento. The entire card is packed from top to bottom with fantastic matchups. Let's take a look at the fights on the main card.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Robelis Despaigne
Acosta has won four of his last five outings and has UFC victories over Andrei Arlovski (34-23-0), Chase Sherman (16-12-0), and Jared Vanderaa (14-11-0). He is a powerful striker, utilizing a boxing style, and has quick hands for a Heavyweight. His best weapon is his right hand, regularly throwing wide hooks and devastating overhands. Training at UKF Gym, Acosta seems to be most at home in a brawl, working inside the pocket and throwing knees and elbows in the clinch. When he lets his hands go, he’s shown he can throw long, technical combinations but will often throw single shots. While he won’t usually initiate grappling exchanges, he has demonstrated a solid ability to return to his feet. When Acosta is on top, he throws plenty of elbows and does a great job keeping himself in advantageous positions.
Despaigne is undefeated and has a UFC victory over Josh Parisian (15-8-0). He’s a former Olympic-level Taekwondo practitioner with one-shot knockout power. In his brief MMA career, he’s had a total cage time of 5:31 and has finished every fight in the first round. Despaigne is very fluid for a Heavyweight, fighting with his hands down and head up, regularly blitzing forward to throw bombs. Training at MMA Temple, he fights behind his jab and throws everything straight, regularly opening combinations with head kicks. He has excellent distance management and footwork, often gliding along the outside before closing the distance and throwing combinations. Despaigne is an enormous Heavyweight at 6’7” and makes excellent use of his size, able to damage his opponents at range and in the pocket.
Alex Caceres vs. Sean Woodson
Caceres has won three of his last five outings and has UFC victories over Daniel Pineda (27-15-0), Julian Erosa (29-12-0), and Chase Hooper (13-3-1). He is a lengthy striker with slick striking and is always in perpetual motion. He often throws more kicks than punches and has a large arsenal of kicks, attacking from different angles and favoring his lead leg. Caceres is very elusive and has defended 63% of significant strikes attempted on him in the UFC. Training at MMA LAB, he won’t enter the pocket often, tending to throw single shots and kicks at range with significant power. He won’t typically initiate grappling exchanges but has excellent chokes and takedown defense. Caceres is a tenured veteran, holding the fifth most bouts in UFC Featherweight history, along with eight post-fight bonuses.
Woodson has won 4 of his last 5 bouts with one draw and has UFC victories over Charles Jourdain (15-7-1), Youssef Zalal (14-5-1), and Dennis Buzukja (12-4-0). He’s an experienced striker with an amateur boxing record of 46-3, and it shows in the octagon, using fluid boxing to piece his opponents up. He is the tallest active Featherweight in the UFC at 6’2 he uses his length well, throwing long punches and kicks from range along with plenty of feints. Woodson is willing to throw wild shots, particularly flying knees, and has various kicks to back up his boxing. He’s excellent at switching up his strikes, often throwing devastating uppercuts to the body and has finished fights with body shots. Training at Glory MMA, he’s typically hard to take down, especially against the fence, using his size to keep the fight on the feet. When he is taken down, Woodson does a good job of returning to his feet quickly and to the center of the cage where he’s most comfortable.
Diego Ferreira vs. Mateusz Rebęcki
Diego Ferreira has won two of his last five outings and has UFC victories over Michael Johnson (23-19-0), Anthony Pettis (25-14-0), and Kyle Nelson (16-5-1). Training at Fortis MMA, he utilizes a brawling style, throwing a lot of heavy straight punches, looping hooks, and constantly coming forward. He has excellent BJJ and is at his best to take on the ground, but he is more than willing to stand and exchange. An accomplished grappler, Ferreira is a former medalist in both the Pan-American and Nogi World Jiu-Jitsu Championships. His grappling ability keeps his opponents concerned enough about takedowns, improving the effectiveness of his striking much of the time. He’ll often blitz forward to unload wild combos, throwing every shot with knockout intentions. Five of Ferreira’s seven submissions are via choke, and he’s highly effective if he can find his opponent’s neck.
Rębecki is on a 16-fight win streak and has UFC victories over Roosevelt Roberts (12-5-0), Loik Radzhabov (18-5-1), and Nick Fiore (6-2-0). He’s an excellent, technical striker with fantastic grappling to back it up. He lands, on average, twice as many significant strikes as he absorbs and throws with both power and volume. Rębecki has great head movement, always keeping his head off the centerline and often slipping shots after landing his own. He’s averaging over four takedowns landed and over one submission attempted per fifteen minutes and is a powerful wrestler. Training at American Top Team, he lands takedowns quickly and efficiently, has smothering top control, and fantastic joint lock submissions. Rębecki has finished thirteen fights on his lengthy win streak and always pushes a furious pace.
Alonzo Menifield vs. Carlos Ulberg
Menifield has won four of his last five contests with one draw and has UFC victories over Dustin Jacoby (19-8-1), Jimmy Crute (12-4-1), and Paul Craig (17-8-1). He is an explosive striker with serious power in both hands and constantly pursues a finish. He throws constant looping shots and overhands and can do damage from anywhere. Menifield has excellent leg kicks and can land damage even when moving backward, making him always dangerous. He has ten first-round finishes, with five of them scored with less than ten punches landed, proving he’s at his most dangerous early. He averages just under a takedown landed per fifteen minutes and can land devastating ground and pound if he secures top position. He has heavy top pressure, brutal ground and pound, and great chokes. Menifield does fade as the fight continues, with all of his finishes coming before the third round and 2 of his three career losses coming via decision.
Ulberg is on a five-fight win streak and has UFC victories over Nicolae Negumereanu (13-2-0), Da Woon Jung (15-5-1), and Ihor Potieria (20-6-0). He’s an accurate, technical striker with excellent power and speed. He remains patient and technical throughout, floating on the outside, looking for openings, and throwing everything straight and tight. Training at City Kickboxing, Ulberg will often lure his opponent into a slower pace before exploding with huge shots. He fights behind his jab, has excellent distance management, and is in perpetual motion. He won’t usually initiate grappling exchanges but is capable on the mat and has solid defensive grappling. Ulberg has only seen a decision once in his UFC tenure and constantly pursues a finish.
#11 Joaquin Buckley vs. Nursulton Ruziboev
Buckley has won three of his last five bouts and has UFC victories over #14 Vicente Luque (22-10-1), Alex Morono (24-9-0), and Albert Duraev (16-5-0). He is a highly aggressive striker with serious power in both hands. He perpetually moves and pursues a finish, throwing every shot with bad intentions and often mixing in kicks at the end of combinations. Although Buckley throws every shot with power, he does his best work with his kicks, never telegraphing them and throwing them from different angles. Training at Murcielago MMA, he throws everything in combination and pushes a frantic pace, willing to throw wild attacks like flying knees or spinning kicks. His UFC finishes have all come in round 2 or later, so he gets increasingly dangerous as the fight continues. He’s averaging over one takedown landed per fifteen minutes and has decent takedown defense, but he’s most effective on his feet.
Ruziboev is on a ten-fight win streak and has UFC victories over Brunno Ferreira (11-1-0) and Sedriques Dumas (9-2-0). On the feet, he throws a lot of single shots with plenty of power and loves to throw flashy spinning kicks. He’s constantly pressuring forward and will typically pursue takedowns early, often using his wild offense to set up his wrestling. Ruziboev has a dangerous submission game and can finish the fight on top or off his back. He’s highly active on the ground and never stops moving, but he is much more of a wild man than a technician and can put himself in bad spots. Training at Renzo Gracie Philly, he’s always looking to finish the fight, often choosing not to defend takedowns to pursue a kimura instead. Ruziboev has heavy ground-and-pound and is excellent at changing grappling positions, especially reversing position from bottom to top.
#12 Derrick Lewis vs. #15 Rodrigo Nascimento
Lewis has won one of his last five fights and has UFC victories over #4 ranked Heavyweight Curtis Blaydes (18-4-0), #6 ranked Heavyweight Alexander Volkov (37-10-0), and #8 ranked Heavyweight Marcin Tybura (25-8-0). Famous for his kill-or-be-killed approach, he is arguably the most powerful puncher in the Heavyweight division. Training at 4oz Fight Club, he has a unique, patient style, often going from 0-100 in the blink of an eye. Along with his punching power, Lewis has a surprising arsenal of flashy attacks, particularly jumping kicks and flying knees. He doesn’t often initiate grappling exchanges and is well known for his non-technical wrestling style of “just getting up,” but he can do severe damage if he gets on top of someone. He’s incredibly resilient and is never truly out of a fight, especially since he only needs to land one clean shot to find a finish. Lewis is the all-time record holder for UFC knockouts at 14 and looks to add to that number every time he fights.
Nascimento has won three of his last five bouts with one no-contest and has victories over Tanner Boser (21-10-1), Ilir Latifi (17-9-0), and Don’Tale Mayes (11-6-0). He’s a well-rounded scrapper with excellent grappling and solid cardio. On the feet, he’s always coming forward, throws everything in combination, and is willing to eat a shot to land one. Nascimento tends to drop his head and throw big overhands and looping hooks, throwing every punch with knockout intentions. Training at American Top Team, he has great timing on his takedowns, usually getting in deep and using his weight and size to drag his opponent to the mat. He has excellent top pressure and advances position quickly, never just sitting in his opponent’s guard. Although he can push a consistent pace across 15 minutes, six of his eight career finishes came in round one, making him most dangerous early on.
Best Bets
Mateus Rębecki by KO/TKO: Rębecki is the biggest favorites on the main card for a reason. Ferreira is an excellent, experienced veteran, but I believe Rębecki is one of the most underrated prospects in the UFC right now. Possessing fantastic technical skill on the feet and on the ground, he can certainly grapple with Ferreira, but I expect him to overwhelm him on the feet and secure a KO victory.
Ulberg vs. Menifield to Not Go the Distance: One of the closer matchups on this card, both have fantastic power and knockout ability. This is a classic matchup of brawler vs technician, making it very tough to predict a winner. One thing is virtually guaranteed though, and that's somebody going to sleep.
Derrick Lewis by KO/TKO: Well, here we are again, another Derrick Lewis main event. These tend to be a bit cut and dry; he's either getting fed to someone, or being fed someone. This is a bit less black and white though, as I wouldn't consider Nascimento a hot prospect nor a can. Either way, this is the type of matchup Lewis can flourish in: someone who wants to throw bombs and is willing to exchange blows. Lewis always has the power to knock someone out, and I think he has the opportunity to add to his knockout record this weekend.
