Highlights! Ex-UFC fighters shine at XMMA 6

It was a good night for former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters.

Regional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion, XMMA, went down last night (Weds., May 3, 2023) inside John T. Rhodes Myrtle Beach Sports Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Five former Octagon veterans were on the car ... and three picked up impressive victories.

In the main event, Francisco Rivera (15-10-1) took on former Bellator and Eagle FC standout, Ricky Bandejas (15-8-1), and was on his way to potentially stopping Bandejas with a dominant first round; however, early into the second stanza, Rivera was accidentally poked in the eye and was unable to continue.

Rivera, 41, went 4-6-1 in UFC and was released after being suspended for four years because of a failed drug test.

In the co-main event, Saidyokub Kakhramonov (11-3) made very easy work of Rafael Costa, submitting him via arm-triangle in less than one minute.

Kakhramonov, 27, was surprisingly released after going 2-1 in UFC, only losing to Said Nurmagomedov in Dec. 2022 (watch highlights).

In the featured bout of XMMA 6, Vince Morales (12-7) took on always-entertaining fellow ex-UFC fighter, Teruto Ishihara. Morales put Ishihara to sleep in the second round with an anaconda choke.

Morales, 32, was released from UFC in 2022 after going 3-5 in the promotion, losing to the likes of Song Yadong, Chris Gutierrez and Jonathan Martinez. However, he did knockout Louis Smolka in 2021 (watch highlights).

Finally, Justin Scoggins (14-6) finished Josh Smith in less than three minutes via rear-naked choke.

Scoggins, 31, went 4-5 in UFC and unfortunately, hasn’t been as active as he was when he was fighting for UFC. In the last few years, he has competed in BKFC and Rizin.

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