MMA Today: UFC St. Louis Becomes Biggest 'Fight Night' Ever, Lomachenko Shows Out + More

UFC St. Louis is less than a week old, as is Vasiliy Lomachenko's masterclass against George Kambosos Jr to win the IBF lightweight title in Perth, Australia.

With the formalities out of the way, welcome back to "Combat Sports Today," a weekly series to start Monday off right for the combat sports enthusiast, thanks to MMA Knockout's Zain Bando, who was in attendance at UFC St. Louis on May 11.

Here are the biggest headlines in combat sports as of Monday, May 13.

UFC News: Joaquin Buckley Dominates St. Louis Co-Main Fight, Calls Out MMA Legend

UFC St. Louis Breaks All-Time Fight Night Gate Record

The UFC was back in the "Gateway City" for the first time since 2018, and locals were treated to a star-studded card that featured five finishes, including a bounce-back victory for No. 12-ranked heavyweight Derrick Lewis in the night's main event.

Lewis stopped No. 15 Rodrigo Nascimento by third-round TKO, who entered the fight having won three in a row and having not seen the wrong end of a fight in nearly four years.

Elsewhere, the card saw three of the four hometown fighters come out victorious, including Joaquin Buckley, who earned a unanimous decision against Nursulton Ruziboev. Ruziboev had won his first two UFC outings, while Buckley's victory gave him his ninth win since signing with the promotion four years ago.

Despite UFC CEO Dana White's non-interest in Buckley vs. Conor McGregor, White was quick to compliment the fan support in St. Louis and hinted at a future pay-per-view if the promotion decides to go that route.

“And this is, when you think about how we built this business, it was taking it out of the big markets," White told reporters at the UFC St. Louis post-fight presser. "When we first got into the fight business, everybody just went to Vegas, Atlantic City, sometimes New York, sometimes LA. That’s the only place that really had fights unless you had a local kid."

The St. Louis gate was $2.4 million, beating a previous record set at a Fight Night card in Austin, Tex. right after the re-introduction of fans into arenas. It's safe to assume White and the UFC will soon return to the Midwest area, whether in St. Louis or elsewhere.

Vasiliy Lomachenko Steamrolls George Kambosos Jr.

Right after the conclusion of UFC St. Louis, boxing fans got a rare free ESPN offering for the IBF strap from Australia that saw Lomachenko dominate Kambosos Jr. en route to a one-sided Round 11 TKO.

With how stacked the lightweight division currently looks, Lomachenko has options regarding who he may fight next, according to long-term promoter Bob Arum, who was in attendance.

“The idea here in the sport is to win the belts, to win all four belts," Arum said Saturday night. (H/T: Boxing News 247) "So you can take an inventory. Tank Davis is fighting Frank Martin, and it’s a good fight, and we’ll see who wins that fight. Navarrete fights next Saturday in San Diego, which is going to be on ESPN for a [WBO] lightweight championship."

Arum said he wants to see how those fights play out before making any rash decisions. But if it were up to him, Arum would prefer Lomachenko to fight whoever has all the belts.

Conor McGregor, Michael Chandler is Early Smash Hit

Although Conor McGregor's long-awaited return to the UFC opposite Michael Chandler is over a month away, UFC 303 is trending as one of the biggest events in MMA history.

White provided an update Saturday that the June 29 pay-per-view has exceeded a $20 million gate, surpassing UFC 229 in 2018, which was $17 million and saw McGregor lose to Khabib Nurmagomedov in a lightweight title bout.

Nevertheless, the mega fight is fast approaching and will soon be at the center of the sports world.

And that's a wrap for CST. Find out what's coming up below.

Up Next?

It may be mid-May, but there's still a boatload of combat sports to look forward to, which includes UFC Vegas 92 from the APEX and Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk for boxing's unification of the heavyweight title. Both events take place Saturday, while Bellator Champions Series continues Friday from Paris, France.

Stick with MMA Knockout for daily coverage of the UFC, MMA, WWE, and AEW. Follow MMA Knockout on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.