UFC San Antonio prelims complete results & highlights: Vergara hits miraculous comeback TKO on Lacerda

Check out the live results and highlights for the UFC San Antonio: Vera vs. Sandhagen prelims.

Stay up to date with what’s happening today at UFC San Antonio, which is going down from the AT&T Center in the great state of Texas.

This post will cover the preliminary card, which begins in the flyweight division with Vinicius Salvador vs. Victor Altamirano, and then closes out in the featherweight division with Tucker Lutz vs. Daniel Pineda.

There might not be many recognizable names on the prelims, but we do have a couple of salty veterans on the docket. It feels like Daniel Pineda has been around forever, but that could be because his first UFC fight was at UFC on FX 1 way back in January of 2012. Pineda departed from the UFC in 2014, but rejoined the promotion in August of 2020. He has nearly three-times as many matches as his opponent, Tucker Lutz.

Another UFC veteran on the prelims is Trevin Giles. Okay so maybe he hasn’t been around the block as many times as Pineda, but he has been under the UFC banner for almost six-years now. Where does the time go? Giles will be facing Preston Parsons, who is in for his third UFC contest to date.

The main card is slated for 7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT, and the preliminary bouts begin at 4:30pm ET/1:30pm, PT — all of which can be streamed on ESPN+.

Prelims:

Lucas Alexander def. Steven Peterson by unanimous decision (30-27 x3): Featherweight

Alexander came out working his leg kicks, and was staying on the outside where he could snipe Peterson. The combinations of Alexander were crisp, and directed towards the head and body. Lucas even scored a knockdown in the closing moments of the round.

Alexander continued to to own the standup in the second round. The leg kicks were adding up, and the movement of Peterson was compromised. Peterson was forced to switch stances, which only made it even more difficult for him to mount his own offense.

The final round got an early goal post kick to Alexander, which brought on a brief timeout. The fight resumed and Peterson clinched up against the cage in search of a takedown. Peterson ended up flopping to his back, and after delivering an axe kick, Alexander let him back up. Peterson pushed the pace down the stretch, but he was unable to produce the fish that he desperately needed. Alexander clipped Peterson with a cross that sat him down, and continued to own the fight until the final bell.

Trevin Giles def. Preston Parsons vs. by split decision (29-28 x2, 28-29): Welterweight

Giles pressed Parsons up against the fence to get this one going. Then in open space, Giles started to connect with some clean punches. Parsons responded by clinching up and shoving Giles against the cage. Parsons changed levels, but the sprawl of Giles was impeccable, so Preston clobbered and stung Trevin. Parsons took top position and worked for a few submissions, but Giles ultimately escaped and ended up on top.

The doctor was brought in at the beginning of the third round to check on some swelling around the eye of Parsons. Preston was cleared to continue, and went right to work with his jab and calf kick. Giles started to jab back, but then gave up a takedown up against the cage. Giles worked back to his feet and went back to pumping his jab. He was scoring and building momentum, forcing Parsons to shoot a takedown. Parsons locked up an arm triangle and used it to transition into the full mount. Giles used his legs to explode off of the cage to close out the round on top.

CJ Vergara def. Daniel Lacerda by TKO at 4:04 of round 2: Flyweight

Lacerda went off here, unloading a crazy amount of volume from jump street. He rocked, wobbled, and dropped Vergara on several occasions. Somehow, Vergara stayed in the fight, doing a full on sprint at times to get away from the onslaught. Lacerda even hit a takedown where he moved to the back and licked up a rear-naked choke. Again, Vergara showed off the durability of a cockroach by refusing to die. He rose to his feet and started to swing back with flush punches of his own. What a ride!

Vergara seemed to recovered to begin round two, and was connecting with some clean boxing. Lacerda was visibly fatigued, which is understandable considering the fact that he emptied his gas tank in the first round. Lacerda dove on a takedown, and he didn’t get it, but he did partially lock up a calf slicer. From inside of the sub, Vergara unloaded some heavy ground and pound until he was free. He immediately jumped on an arm triangle, but it was Lacerda’s turn to survive. Vergara started to pour it on with the elbows, and then switched to his punches to get the TKO! THIS IS ONE OF THE CRAZIEST COMEBACKS EVER! WOW!

Victor Altamirano def. Vinicius Salvador by unanimous decision (29-28×3): Flyweight

Salvador brought the pressure from the word go. He was walking down Altamirano, although he wasn’t really dishing out much damage. Then, Altamirano hit a bodylock takedown to get on top. He controlled for awhile before Salvador was able to get back to his feet. Altamirano connected with a spinning kick to the face, but Salvador ate it like a champ, and then backed himself up to the cage in a tribute to Anderson Silva.

Altamirano was throwing a lot of flashing spinning kicks to open the second round. He was landing, but using up a lot of energy. Salvador started to wrestle, but Altamirano refused to be controlled, and began to wrestle offensively himself. Back in open space, Salvador started to connect with wild hooks, as Altamirano seemed to be slowing down. Altamirano did have a big moment at the end of the round, but that was a much better round for Salvador.

An early takedown was secured by Altamirano to start the final round. Salvador worked his way back to his feet, and there were a few exchanges there, but Altamirano hit a trip to get back on top. Credit to Salvador to quickly working back to his feet and going for it. He was launching all sorts of wild attacks at Altamirano, showing urgency to do damage.

About the author: Eddie Mercado has covered combat sports since 2015. He covers everything from betting odds to live events and fighter interviews. He holds a 1-0 record in pro MMA and holds a purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu. (full bio)