Derrick Lewis Stops Rodrigo Nascimento in UFC on ESPN 56 Main Event

Derrick Lewis made sure his UFC on ESPN 56 main event against Rodrigo Nascimento didn't last the full 25 minutes.

In a surprising change of pace, Lewis (28-12, 1 NC) came out looking to clinch with the Brazilian at first but wasn't able to do much in the position. Instead, Nascimento (11-2, 1 NC) secured a takedown and took the fight to the floor. Lewis would survive the frame but ate a number of elbows. Lewis would have more success in the second frame, landing some heavy uppercuts while dirty boxing. "The Black Beast" would then be fully unleashed in Round 3 as a huge overhand right floored Nascimento, and Lewis kept throwing until the fight was stopped 49 seconds into the stanza.

With the win, Lewis has now won 19 fights inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship's heavyweight division.

Buckley Tears Through Ruziboev

The co-main event saw welterweights Joaquin Buckley and Nursulton Ruziboev clash.

Buckley (19-6) took an early advantage by taking the fight to the ground several times and controlling "Black." Back on the feet, Ruziboev (34-9-2, 2 NC) showed heavy hands that hurt "New Mansa." The final round saw the fight truly become one-sided as Buckley hurt Ruziboev on the feet and followed it up with damaging ground-and-pound that nearly forced the referee to step in.

Buckley took a well-earned unanimous decision win with scores of 30-27, 30-26, 29-27.

Ulberg TKOs Menifield in 12 Seconds

Carlos Ulberg needed just 12 seconds to pick up a TKO win over Alonzo Menifield.

The fight began wildly as Menifield (15-4-1) rushed forward, throwing a series of looping punches. Ulberg (10-1) stayed composed as Menifield ran into the cage and unloaded his own series of punches that floored "Atomic." Although Menifield was about to get back up, the fight was waved off, and "Black Jag" picked up the quick win.

The New Zealand fighter has now won six straight fights.

Related » UFC St. Louis Round-by-Round Scoring

Ferreira Outclasses Rebecki

The third and final lightweight fight of the night saw the rising Mateusz Rebecki fall to the Brazilian veteran Diego Ferreira.

Rebecki (19-2) tested the chin of Ferreira (19-5) early as the Polish fighter landed with some heavy punches and scored a knockdown in the process. Ferreira's sharp boxing came back with a vengeance in the second round as he caused significant damage to Rebecki's right eye. In the final frame, an exhausted Rebecki was largely mauled by his 39-year-old opponent, who picked up a TKO stoppage via punches with just seconds left to go.

The official time of the stoppage came at 4:51 of Round 3.

Woodson Edges Past Caceres

Featherweights Alex Caceres and Sean Woodson had a fun striking battle for 15 minutes.

Initially, Woodson (12-1-1) was able to use his superior reach to paw at "Bruce Leeroy" with jabs and calf kicks. However, Caceres (21-15, 1 NC) would find some success in the second round by going to the body and pressuring the taller fighter. "The Sniper" would rally back in the final round by varying his strikes and fighting more aggressively, although it seemed that Caceres was still in control.

After three rounds, the judges awarded the fight to Woodson with scores of 29-28, 29-28 and a ridiculous 30-27.

Cortes-Acosta Outgrapples Despaigne

The main card began with some heavyweight action between Waldo Cortes-Acosta and Robelis Despaigne.

The action was back-and-forth on the feet, although "The Bad Boy" had a clear advantage in terms of striking acumen. However, Cortes-Acosta (12-1) was able to take Despaigne (5-1) down several times throughout the fight, where the Cuban fighter had little off his back and was easily controlled. Despaigne was unable to stay upright in a single round and is no longer undefeated as a result.

After 15 minutes, Cortes-Acosta took a unanimous decision win with scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26 in his favor.

UFC on ESPN 56 Prelim Results

In preliminary action, Chase Hooper picked up a dominant, yet slightly controversial, brabo choke submission win over Viacheslav Borshchev at 3:00 of Round 2; Esteban Ribovics quickly knocked out Terrance McKinney with a brutal head kick in just 37 seconds; Tabatha Ricci edged a split decision win over Tecia Pennington with scores of 28-29, 29-28 and 29-28; Trey Waters went to war and won a unanimous decision win (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) over Billy Goff; Charles Johnson outworked Jake Hadley over three rounds to earn scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 29-28; and Veronica Hardy outstruck J.J. Aldrich to a unanimous decision earn three 29-28 scorecards in her favor.