Flyweights Lucas Rocha and Stewart Nicoll faced off on the UFC Rio preliminary card on Saturday, as the UFC returned to Brazil for the first time in over a year.
The promotion’s last visit had come in May of 2024, also to Rio de Janeiro, albeit for a PPV card (UFC 301). Yet with the sport in a rebuilding phase in Brazil, the country that had once seen as many as seven events in a single year (2014) was down to just one per year a decade later.
Australia’s Nicoll and Brazil’s own Rocha were both looking for their first win inside the octagon on Saturday, after losing their respective debuts.
ROUND 1: Rocha put the pressure on Nicoll right away. They were both twitching and moving a lot, making each other miss. After the opening minute, they started to find their range. Nicoll landed a nice left, but it was the striker Rocha who was doing a better job mixing his targets and making Nicoll guess. The Australian momentarily got Rocha down, but the Brazilian popped back up and landed a clean short uppercut. Using the crowd’s energy, Rocha was starting to feel himself. He sprawled on another Nicoll takedown attempt and got right back to putting the pressure on the Australian to end the round.
ROUND 2: Rocha wasn’t going to change what looked like a winning recipe in the opening round. Combining non-stop forward motion with a nice variation of head and body shots, the Brazilian was starting to really take control of the fight. Circling along the fence, Nicoll looked overwhelmed as he couldn’t keep Rocha off of him. Add to that an inability to get Rocha to the ground and Nicoll was looking like he had no answer. The Australian showed his fighting spirit, but the body shots appeared to be taking a toll as his desparate flurries looked more and more laboured. Another failed takedown by Nicoll had the 5’3″ Rocha towering over the Australian to end the round.
ROUND 3: The first two minutes of the third round looked a lot like the second. After Rocha let go of a front head lock, Nicoll landed a heavy uppercut to left hand combination. Rocha ate it and fired back with a head kick that Nicoll just barely got away from. Nicoll was showing his toughness by firing combinations of his own, but he was staying in the pocket too long, allowing Rocha to throw lengthy combinations. With the fight realistically out of Nicoll’s grasp, they both started to put on a show in the final 90 seconds of the round. They exchanged rolling thunder kicks and cartwheels. Putting on the final touches of a great performance, it was the Brazilian who grabbed a body lock and threw Nicoll to the ground.
Without much surprise, Lucas Rocha was awarded the unanimous decision, earning him his first UFC victory.
Official Result: Lucas Rocha def. Stewart Nicoll by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
