Lewis TKOs Nascimento at UFC St. Louis, takes off shorts to celebrate

The UFC knockout king struck again.

Derrick Lewis defeated Rodrigo Nascimento via TKO at the 0:49 mark of the third round in the UFC St. Louis main event Saturday night at Enterprise Center.

The No. 12-ranked heavyweight dropped Nascimento with a massive overhand right to set up the finish. Lewis followed up with short punches to the head until referee Jason Herzog waved off the fight.

Lewis extended the record for most knockouts in UFC history with his 15th.

"The Black Beast" celebrated in wild fashion after the win, taking off his fight shorts (in a throwback to a viral moment in 2018) and using them to fan off his opponent:

Lewis also removed his cup, threw it over the cage and into press row, and mooned the audience:

Lewis is back in the win column after entering Saturday's bout off a unanimous decision loss to heavyweight contender Jailton Almeida last November.

The fight between Lewis and Nascimento was competitive up until the finish. The two heavyweights exchanged takedowns in the first round, with Nascimento compiling about two minutes of control time. Lewis had the edge on the feet in the second round, landing a handful of power punches before fending off a rear-naked choke attempt in the second half of the frame.

The 39-year-old Houston resident is now 2-4 in his last six Octagon appearances dating back to 2022. Lewis went 1-2 last year, getting submitted by Serghei Spivac and then knocking out Marcos Rogerio de Lima before the Almeida loss. Lewis signed a new eight-fight deal with the UFC last August following a brief stint as a free agent.

Nascimento saw his four-fight unbeaten streak end and suffered just the second defeat of his pro MMA career. The 31-year-old Brazilian has been in the UFC since 2020 and is ranked No. 15 in the heavyweight division.