J. Buckley beat N. Ruziboev at UFC St. Louis (Photo: Twitter/@ufcnews)
This Saturday night (11) at UFC St. Louis, Joaquin buckley probably had the greatest performance of his career. Before the prospectus Nursulton Ruziboev, the welterweight standout (up to 77,1kg) punished his rival with striking and a festival of takedowns and calmly emerged victorious in the unanimous decision of the judges.
Eleventh in the welterweight rankings, Buckley recorded his fourth consecutive victory in the organization and is now beginning to glimpse a place in the top-10 of the category. The North American's last defeat came in December 2022 to Chris Curtis.
In his third UFC fight, Ruziboev suffers his first defeat and finds himself further away from a possible spot in the welterweight rankings. At 30 years old, the Uzbek has an MMA record of 34 triumphs and nine setbacks.
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Irreproachable performance
In the first few seconds, Buckley attempted an approach, but Ruziboev threw a knee that made the American move away. Halfway through the round, Joaquin gets into the Uzbek's legs and gets the takedown, leaving his rival with his back on the ground. The two fighters stand, exchange blows openly and the North American takes another takedown on his rival.
At the beginning of the second round, Buckley wasted no time and took down Ruziboev again but didn't want to keep his rival pinned to the ground for too long. The Uzbek fighter found himself lost with the North American's movement and, despite his greater reach, found it difficult to find the ideal timing for his strikes. In the final seconds, Ruziboev attempted a submission, but Buckley made a good save.
Ruziboev returned for the last round trying to corner Buckley, who, masterfully, managed to dodge and land a cross that led to the Uzbek's knockdown. The two fighters got up, returned to the center of the cage but, a few seconds later, Buckley landed another cross that knocked his rival down again.
On top in mount, Buckley punished Ruziboev intensely with punches and elbows, raising the audience in the arena. The Uzbek survived the American's blows but continued to be punished with a barrage of ground and pound blows. The duel ended with the two athletes exchanging punches at close range.
UFC St.Louis results
MAIN CARD (20 p.m. Brasília time)
Heavyweight: Derrick Lewis derrotou Rodrigo Zé Colmeia by technical knockout (punches) 49s into R3
Welterweight Weight: Joaquin buckley derrotou Nursulton Ruziboev in the unanimous decision of the judges (30-27, 30-26, 29-27)
Light Heavyweight: Carlos Ulberg derrotou Alonzo Menifield by knockout (punches) 12s from R1
Lightweight: Carlos Diego Ferreira derrotou Mateusz Rebecki by technical knockout (punches) at 4:51 of R3
Feather weight: Sean Woodson derrotou Alex Caceres in the unanimous decision of the judges (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Heavyweight: Waldo Cortes-Acosta derrotou Robelis Despaigne in the unanimous decision of the judges (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
PRELIMINARY CARD (17 p.m. Brasília time)
Lightweight: Chase Hooper derrotou Viacheslav Borshchev by submission (hand triangle) 3m from R2
Lightweight: Esteban Ribovics derrotou terrance mckinney by knockout at 37s of R1
Straw weight: Tabatha Ricci derrotou Rachel Pennington in the judges' split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Welterweight Weight: Trey Waters defeated Billy Goff via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Fly weight: Charles Johnson derrotou Jake Hadley in the unanimous decision of the judges (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Welterweight Weight: Jared Gooden x Kevin Jousset – FIGHT CANCELED
Fly weight: Veronica Hardy derrotou JJ Aldrich in the unanimous decision of the judges (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
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