Claudio Ribeiro opened the show in style Saturday.
During the UFC 288 preliminary card opener, Ribeiro (11-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) nearly finished Joseph Holmes (8-4 MMA, 1-3 UFC) in Round 1 before the bell. The horn just delayed the ultimate outcome as Ribeiro finished the fight with punches at 3:21 of Round 2.
A knee dropped Ribeiro to the canvas before Ribeiro’s ground-and-pound forced referee Gary Copeland to wave off the middleweight bout, which took place at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
