Carlos Diego Ferreira and Mateusz Rebecchi, UFC St. Louis Credit: Youtube/UFC
Poland’s Mateusz Rebecchi faced the biggest fighter of his career at UFC St. Louis on Saturday, taking on famous Brazilian Carlos Diego Ferreira.
Lightweight Diego Ferriera shared the cage with Dustin Poirier, Anthony Pettis and Mateusz Gamlot.
Rebecchi landed a big left hand on Ferreira with a swing early in the match, and undoubtedly earned some respect in the process. Rebecchi lands an inside leg kick while Ferreira switches stances and pivots to the outside. Just over a minute into the round, Rebecchi placed Diego Ferreira on the canvas with a solid left hand. The Polish up-and-comer came out on top, but had to contend with the prowess of black belt Ferreira.
Early in the second half, Ferreira attacked with a leg kick, and Rebecchi countered with a hook. Within a minute, Rebecchi scored a takedown and went to work on top. Diego Ferreira launched an aggressive attack, eventually hitting Rebecchi with an upkick. More footwork gave way to another Rebecchi takedown attempt, only this one stuffed. As the rounds progressed, Ferreira appeared one step ahead, repeatedly landing on his hands and sending kicks upstairs. Rebecchi immediately showed damage around his right eye and the referee asked for time to be examined by a doctor. The doctor cleared Mateusz Rebecchi to continue, the teams restarted, and Rebecchi took advantage of the momentum-killing pause to score a takedown.
However, Ferreira did not accept the position and reversed his way to the top, going for an arm triangle choke as the seconds ticked down.
The third round came with Diego Ferreira looking to keep the pressure on. The Brazilian staggered Rebecchi just over a minute into the fight, but Rebecchi refused to break away and countered with a leg kick. Rebecchi landed a double leg takedown in the opening two minutes, but Ferreira was back on his feet seconds later. And then he dressed again, reversed and moved to side control, mounting with just under half a round left.
Rebecchi was incredibly going to survive, but found himself on his back eating ground and pound again with seconds left in the round. That was enough for the referee, who waved the fight off with nine seconds left, handing Carlos Deigo Ferreira the TKO victory.
Official result: Carlos Diego Ferreira def. Mateusz Rebecki 3rd round 4:51 TKO
