After nearly driving Rodrigo Nascimento through the canvas with hammer fists after a vicious right hand almost put the Brazilian out cold, Derrick Lewis proceed to throw his cup to the media section, his glovs into the crowd at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis and then dropped his drawers for, well, who knows why he dropped his shorts.
That's Lewis, the wise-cracking, hard-hitting UFC slugger who added to his KO record on Saturday when he stopped Nascimento at 49 seconds of the third round in the main event of UFC St. Louis. As much as the KO revved up the crowd, though, it was the performance by hometown hero Joaquin Buckley in the co-main event that really stole the show.
Buckley, who on March 30 in Atlantic City, N.J., finished Vicente Luque, added another impressive win on Saturday when he won a wide unanimous decision over Nursulton Ruziboev in their welterweight bout. It was a compelling affair filled with highlight moments, but Buckley sent the crowd into delirium after the bout when he called out former featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor after his fourth consecutive win.
Buckley has as much of a chance of facing McGregor next as does the 264-pound Lewis, but the call-out made the crowd erupt and so it did its job. The 11th-ranked Buckley, who until recently was a full-time employee at a St. Louis Walgreens' drug store, won by bout by scores of 30-27, 30-26 and 29-27.
Ruziboev dropped from middleweight to welterweight on Saturday to face Buckley, but in retrospect it was a poor decision. Buckley landed a right hand and then two massive lefts early in the third to put Ruziboev on his back. Buckley went doggedly pursued the finish, but Ruziboev was able to find a way to survive.
But he wasn't able to land nearly enough to handle Buckley, who was determined to win in front of his hometown fans. He attended the pre-fight news conference before UFC 300, where he got to the microphone and pleaded with UFC CEO Dana White to be on the card. White agreed and Buckley made the decision pay off by putting on a performance that clearly marked him as a contender at welterweight.
The call-out of McGregor isn't going to go anywhere -- McGregor fights Michael Chandler on June 29 in Las Vegas in the main event of UFC 303 -- but it helped keep the crowd energized after an outstanding performance.
"It wasn't just me; it was ya'll, too," Buckley said, returning some love to the crowd.
The fans were primed after that and Lewis gave them what they came for, though it took a while. Lewis entered the bout having lost four of his last five, but the one that hurt the most was the most recent one, when he was out grappled for five rounds by Jailton Almeida in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Nov. 4 and lost a one-sided decision.
He spent much of Rounds 1 and 2 Saturday on his back, must to the consternation of his coach, Bob Perez. Perez continually urged Lewis to avoid backing to the fence and instead stay in the center of the Octagon. It was there early in the third that Lewis unloaded a pulverizing right that for all intents and purposes finished the fight.
Nascimento clearly wasn't going to go up, but referee Jason Herzog gave him a chance. However, all he got for it was a couple of big shots to the face before Herzog stopped it and proclaimed Lewis the winner.
The 39-year-old Lewis, who before the fight said he was still in his prime, joked, "I'm too old for this shit," after the fight was over.
It was his UFC-record 15th win by knockout and set off an odd celebration in which he nearly took everything he wore to the Octagon off.
"I couldn't let no taxi cab driver from Brazil beat me," Lewis cracked. "This is my first time ever hearing of that guy."