Derrick Lewis was on fine form as he added another vintage knockout and post-fight celebration to his highlight reel in St. Louis.
As the UFC set a new record for the highest gate at a Fight Night event, the fans were treated to a memorable night of action with some stellar finishes producing the highlights.
In the main event, St. Louis became "Black Beast" country as Derrick Lewis looked to prove that he is more than just a heavy hitter.
It was still his trademark power that got the job done against Rodrigo Nascimento as Lewis extended his lead at the top of the knockout charts by setting the record at 15 with a third-round finish to raise the roof inside the Enterprise Center.
The fight wasn't all one-way traffic though as Nascimento was able to get some work done on the ground but it wasn't enough to stop Lewis from landing the one final blow he needed.
As promised ahead of Saturday night, Lewis showed some new wrinkles to his game by initiating some grappling of his own and securing takedowns, a rare collector's item for long term fans of the funniest fighter in the game.
No classic Lewis performance is complete without a memorable post-fight celebration and interview and this one was no different.
Shorts, cup, gloves, you name it, "The Black Beast" was taking off items of clothing like they were going out of fashion and even thanked the fans in St. Louis for letting him show them everything.
The co-main event of the night saw Joaquin Buckley deliver on the moment that he made happen after getting his wish to fight in front of his home crowd fans.
He may not have got the main event billing but he certainly looked like the main man to the fans in attendance as he put on another strong performance to defeat Nursulton Ruziboev via decision.
The rest of the highlights came from some memorable finishes dotted around the card that made this a night to remember in Missouri.
Carlos Ulberg was finally able to get his first outing of the year secured and he made up for the lost time by getting in and out of the Octagon in just 12 seconds.
He extended his winning and finish streak to six after Alonzo Menifield came charging right at him and found himself on the end of a slick counter and subsequent barrage of strikes to close the show in rapid fashion.
Diego Ferreira, along with Ulberg, was the receiver of a performance of the night bonus for his dominant display to stop the winning streak of Mateusz R?becki after coming in as the underdog.
Chase Hooper put on a similar level of performance in his fight with Viacheslav Borshchev where despite getting the submission win, all the talk was of his striking game that looked better than ever.
However, undoubtedly the highlight of the action from the prelims was the knockout of the year contender produced by Esteban Ribovics.
As is often the case when Terrance McKinney is booked to be in action, this one started fast and ended all of a sudden when Ribovics landed a head kick that sent his opponent crashing to the floor, propped up by the side of the Octagon.
For all of the finishes that set the bar high in St. Louis, it was always going to be the UFC's leading man for knockouts to get the final word of the night.
Lewis rocked the fans in Missouri with a post-fight interview that will go down in history as the kind of entertainment that you only get when "The Black Beast" is in town.
Watch Lewis' full post-fight interview here:
