UFC Fight Night 56 results recap: 'Prelims' once again provide excitement and finishes

After an exhilarating UFC Fight Night 55 event last night in Sydney, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to FOX Sports tonight (Sat., Nov. 8, 2014) for UFC Fight Night 56: "Shogun vs St. Preux" live from inside the Ginasio Municipal Tancredo Neves in Uberlandia, Brazil. Prior to the main card on FOX Sports 1 (FS1), the event was kicked off with an exciting preliminary card airing live on FOX Sports 2 (FS2).

Full results and play-by-play here.

The undercard featured a number of enthralling fights and finishes, including the UFC debut of Brazilian prospect Thomas Almeida. The 23 year-old improved his undefeated record to 18-0 with a fantastic unanimous decision victory over Tim Gorman in which he showed off his acclaimed striking technique. While he was unable to garner a finish, you can bet UFC Bantamweights won't be lining up to fight the potential star in the making.

In the "Prelims" main event, two UFC debutants put on an intriguing grappling battle as they reversed each other back and forth en route to a unanimous decision nod for Diego Rivas. While it was not exactly a stellar cap to the "Prelims," the rest of the fights did provide exciting action for the fans in Brazil.

Check out the prelims recap below:

Diego Rivas vs. Rodolfo Rubio

This fight was a grappling affair, but really was not worthy of being the "Prelims" main event.

The first round provided some exciting grappling exchanges as Rubio got an early takedown and controlled Rivas with ground and pound. Rivas landed a nice reversal late, and began landing big power on Rubio to end the round.

The second round showed both fighter's inexperience on both the feet and the mat. In the striking exchanges both men missed wildly on haymakers, but Rivas did land the biggest punch of the fight with a big right hand early on. As Rubio tried to recover, Rivas capitalized with a takedown midway through the round, but was once again reversed while attempting a submission late in the round.

The third round was much of the same as they engaged in a sloppy exchange on the feet before reversing each other multiple times on the mat. Rivas was certainly getting the better of Rubio in the grappling exchanges, but both men had their highlights and mistakes.

In the end, Rivas took home the unanimous decision win in his UFC debut.

Caio Magalhaes vs. Trevor Smith

Another violent and quick finish in this unbelievable UFC weekend.

Caio Magalhaes and Trevor Smith began the fight mean-mugging, and took no time to slug it out inside the Octagon. Magalhaes came out swinging and landed a devastating knee that had Smith in all sorts of trouble early. As Smith fell to the canvas, the Brazilian followed up with an onslaught of hammerfists to finish the fight.

On the replay it was painfully evident that nearly all the hammerfists from Magalhaes had been illegal strikes to the back of the head, but he was still granted the knockout victory anyhow. 

Leandro Silva vs. Charlie Brenneman

Well this fight didn't last very long.

Charlie Brenneman immediately rushed in for a takedown to avoid the striking of Leandro Silva, but after getting reversed and submitted via a rear-naked choke less than four minutes later, Brenneman may be rethinking his strategy on the flight back to the United States.

This was a must-win fight for Brenneman, who has now been finished in UFC seven times, and it will likely be his last appearance inside the Octagon. On the other side of the coin, Silva earned his first victory in UFC, and will be a happy camper partying in his native Brazil this evening.

Thomas Almeida vs. Tim Gorman

This fight got off to a fast start as Tim Gorman immediately pressured Thomas Almeida to the fence to avoid the Brazilian prospects' lauded striking. Almeida nearly caught Gorman in a ninja joke in the first 10 seconds of the fight, but instead found himself fighting off a rear-naked choke as he carried Gorman as a backpack on the fence. Once Almeida broke free and the fighters exchanged in the middle of the cage, it was evident that Almeida had a huge advantage on the feet.

Almeida threw his entire arsenal at Gorman as he landed knees, elbows, kicks, and punches to the face and body of the American for the entire 15 minute affair. Incredibly, Gorman hung tough, fighting through numerous bad positions while landing his fair share of shots on the Brazilian. At multiple points in the fight it looked as if Almeida was moments away from the finish, but Gorman continued to recover and fire back against all odds.

The fight came down to Almeida's striking offense and his ability to avoid Gorman's takedowns. While Gorman utilized a picturesque jab throughout the fight, he was unable to really hurt Almeida as he was getting tagged by much more powerful shots.

In the end, Almeida remained undefeated as he took home the unanimous decision victory in his UFC debut.

Wagner Silva vs. Colby Covington

While this fight may not have been the most exciting affair, Colby Covington's UFC debut was a success as he finished the Brazilian Wagner Silva in the third round with a rear-naked choke.

This fight was all about Covington's wrestling and pressure as he wouldn't give Silva an inch. The first round was not all that exciting, as it began with a poor striking exchange before Covington began to employ his wrestling and pressure. From then on Silva was fighting either off his back or on the fence, and it was not pretty.

Although Covington almost sealed the deal with an arm-triangle late in the first round, he could not finish Silva until the third. At the start of the round, the Brazilian threw caution to the wind in hopes of pulling off the comeback, but after clipping Covington, Silva was dragged back down to the mat again. Moments later Covington slipped in a rear-naked choke after a transition and finished the fight.

Check out the full UFC Fight Night 56 "Prelims" quick results below:

Diego Rivas def. Rodolfo Rubio via decision (unanimous) 30-27 x3
Caio Magalhães def. Trevor Smith via TKO (strikes) at 0:31 of Rd. 1
Leandro Silva def. Charlie Brenneman via submission (RNC) at 4:15 of Rd. 1
Thomas Almeida def. Tim Gorman via decision (unanimous) 30-27 x2, 29-28
Colby Covington def. Wagner Silva via submission (RNC) at 3:26 of Rd. 3

For main card results and play-by-play click here.