UFC St. Louis video: Diego Ferreira storms back to stop Mateusz Rebecki with just 9 seconds left in fight

Diego Ferreira wasn’t going down without a fight.

The veteran lightweight had a tough start to his night at UFC St. Louis, but Ferreira came storming back and eventually battered Mateusz Rebecki with some vicious ground pound to finish the fight late in the final round. It was Ferreira’s own toughness that allowed him to survive the early surge from Rebecki before he went after the highly touted prospect with some relentless offense of his own to get the stoppage victory.

The end came at 4:51 in the third round with Ferreira getting his second straight win overall but first in almost exactly one year since he last appeared in the octagon.

“I knew Mateusz was going to be a tough job to get done,” Ferreira said afterward. “I knew I would have to overcome, I wanted to climb back to my rank. Our division is full of those dogs. Damn, it feels good to get another win, especially one year away from this.

“He’s super hard. When he first got the hit on my nose, I felt my eyes watering. I said damn, this guy hits hard! Thank god, I came away with this win.”

There was no feeling out process from Rebecki, who came charging out of the gate, pushing Ferreira back against the cage and unloading huge, heavy shots. Rebecki showed no fear of reprisal as he kept launching combinations but Ferreira stayed patient, avoided the haymakers and then looked for openings to fire back.

Ferreira actually started catching Rebecki with the cleaner, more accurate strikes but then the lightweights had an accidental clash of heads as they traded bombs. A split second later, Rebecki exploded forward with a massive left hand that sent Ferreira down to the canvas.

Rebecki followed him to the ground but showed caution not to over extends himself to avoid any submission or escape attempts from Ferreira on the bottom. It was a fast start from Rebecki and he tried to continue that with a takedown to start the second round but this time Ferreira quickly worked his way back to the feet.

With room to work, Ferreira really started unloading with his combinations and a nearly exhausted Rebecki just didn’t have an answer to counter him. Ferreira continued to push forward, throwing strikes in succession and Rebecki was falling behind, especially with both of his eyes swelling from the damage done.

Ferreira continued his assault with a barrage of punches and a knee up the middle that clubbed Rebecki on the chin yet he still kept coming forward for more. Ferreira eventually snatched a takedown of his own where he began blasting away at Rebecki from the top with a barrage of ground and pound.

With Rebecki clearly fading, Ferreira went for the kill as he continued to unload shot after shot with his opponent offering the least amount of resistance possible. Ferreira kept blasting away until the referee had no choice but to rescue Rebecki from further harm.

While he’s endured plenty of ups and downs in his career, Ferreira remains a tough out for anybody in the world at 155 pounds and Rebecki can definitely attest to that after he suffered his first loss in the UFC on Saturday.