UFC St Louis: Derrick Lewis vs Rodrigo Nascimento: Key Talking Points

UFC FIGHT NIGHT: LEWIS vs NASCIMENTO airs live in Asia on Sunday, May 12 from Enterprise in St.Louis, Missouri. The main card begins on 12th May 2024 from 4:30 AM IST and the prelims start at 1:30 AM IST (Sunday, May 12).

Here are the key talking points ahead for UFC St Louis:

Main Event

HEAVYEWIGHT JUGGERNAUTS BATTLE: DERRICK LEWIS LOCKS HORNS WITH RODRIGONASCIMENTO

Derrick Lewis (27-12 1NC, fighting out of Houston, Texas) returns to action looking to addanother highlight finish to his resume

• No. 12 ranked UFC heavyweight
• 22 wins by knockout, nine first-round finishes
• UFC Record: Most knockouts in UFC history (14)
• Holds victories over KO Marcos Rogério de Lima, Alexander Volkov, and Curtis Blaydes

Rodrigo Nascimento (11-1 2NC, fighting out of Belo Horizonte, Brazil) aims on securing astatement win against Lewis and further his climb up the rankings

• No. 15 ranked UFC heavyweight
• Six wins via submission, two via knockout
• Six first-round finishes
• Holds victories over Don’Tale Mayes, Ilir Latifi, and Tanner Bose

Co-main event

170-POUNDERS SET FOR ACTION: JOAQUIN BUCKLEY AND NURSULTON RUZIBOEV LOOK TO STEALTHE SHOW

Joaquin Buckley (21-9, fighting out of St. Louis, Mo.) looks to deliver a shutout performance inhis hometown

• No. 11 ranked UFC welterweight
• 13 wins via KO
• Four first-round finishes
• Holds victories over Vicente Luque, Andre Fialho, and Impa Kasanganay

Nursulton Ruziboev (34-8-2 2NC, fighting out of Tashkent, Uzbekistan) plans to spoilBuckley’s homecoming and break into the rankings

• UFC welterweight
• 20 wins by submission, 12 wins by knockout
• 25 first-round finishes
• Holds a win over Sedriques Dumas and Brunno Ferreira

OTHER FIGHTS ON THE CARD INCLUDE

• Alonzo Menifield (15-3-1, fighting out of Dallas, Texas) meets Carlos Ulberg (10-1, fighting outof Auckland, New Zealand) at light heavyweight
• Lightweights collide as Diego Ferreira (18-5, fighting out of Pharr, Texas by way of Careiro daVárzea, Amazonas, Brazil) takes on Mateusz Rebecki (19-1, fighting out of Szczecin, Poland)
• An intriguing featherweight bout matches Alex Caceres (21-14 1NC, fighting out of Miami, Fla.)against Sean Woodson (11-1-1, fighting out of St. Louis, Mo.)
• Waldo Cortes-Acosta (11-1, fighting out of Phoenix, Ariz. by way of Fundacion, Barahona,Dominican Republic) looks to derail compelling heavyweight prospect Robelis Despaigne (5-0,fighting out of Orlando, Fla. by way of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba)
• Chase Hooper (13-3-1, fighting out of Enumclaw, Wash.) battles Viacheslav Borshchev (7-3-1,fighting out of Sacramento, Calif.) in a classic grappler versus striker matchup
• Terrance McKinney (15-6, fighting out of Spokane, Wash.) and Esteban Ribovics (12-1, fightingout of Cordoba, Argentina) meet in an exciting lightweight matchup
• No. 11 ranked strawweight Tabatha Ricci (9-2, fighting out of Ventura, Calif.) faces off withveteran Tecia Pennington (13-6, fighting out of Colorado Springs, Colo.)
• Welterweights Billy Goff (9-2, fighting out of Groton, Conn.) and Trey Waters (8-1, fighting outof Jacksonville, Fla.) vie to remain undefeated in the UFC
• Charles Johnson (14-6, fighting out of St. Louis, Mo.) and Jake Hadley (10-2, fighting out ofOldbury, England) lock horns in a flyweight bout guaranteed to deliver fireworks
• Jared Gooden (23-9, fighting out of Duluth, Ga.) faces Kevin Jousset (10-2, fighting out ofAuckland, New Zealand) in a welterweight bout
• Flyweights JJ Aldrich (13-6, fighting out of Westminster, Colo.) and Veronica Hardy (8-4-1,fighting out of Nottingham, England by way of Caracas, Venezuela) go toe-to-toe

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