Everyone likes a comeback story and on Friday night the WSOF and MMA world got one. Brian Foster won the one night, eight-man lightweight tournament after being eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Foster had lost his quarterfinal bout to Joao Zeferino by a first round submission but an injury to Mike Ricci cleared a spot for him to re-enter the tournament. Ricci made quick work of his opponent Joe Condon with a first round TKO but could not continue on. Foster took his place and would go on to face Louis Palomino, who is a former two-time title challenger.

Palomino was a heavy favorite to win the tournament and looked liked he would advance after he landed left punch on Foster early in the bout. Foster was able to push through the punch and land a takedown on Palomino. The takedowns proved to be the difference as Foster used to defeat Palomino with a second round TKO to advance to the final and face Joao Zeferino, the man who defeated him earlier in the night.

Coming into the final Zeferino could not have been more confident. He was asked to defeat a man he had already defeated rather easily just a few hours earlier. Zeferino attempted several leg locks but Foster was defending them much better than he did before. In the second round was more of a stand up affair and that proved not to be good for Zeferino. Foster would land a heavy right hand in the final seconds of the round and followed that up with some ground strikes that would force the referee to stop the bout.

Single night tournaments sound like a good idea on paper but rarely do they ever pan out accordingly. Injuries and other factors always seem to always make these tournaments a little tricky. WSOF 25’s tourney had its hiccups but it did get a very unlikely comeback story out of it.

MAIN CARD RESULTS:

• Tournament Final: Brian Foster def. Joao Zeferino via knockout in Round 2 at 4:51
• Jason High def. Estevan Payan via TKO in Round 2 at 0:47
• Tournament Semifinal: Brian Foster def. Luis Palomino via TKO in Round 2 at 4:19
• Tournament Semifinal: Joao Zeferino def. Jorge Patino via submission in Round 1 at 1:24

PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS:

• Joseph Barajas def. Erik Villalobos via TKO in Round 3 at 4:06
• Roberto Yong def. Jimmy Scully via TKO in Round 1 at 1:11
• Quarterfinal: Luis Palomino def. Richard Patishnock via knockout in Round 1 at  4:55
• Quarterfinal: Joao Zeferino def. Brian Foster via submission in Round 1 at 1:46
• Quarterfinal: Mike Ricci* def. Joe Condon via TKO in Round 1 at 2:41 – *Ricci injured and forced out of tourney, replaced by Brian Foster
• Quarterfinal: Islam Mamedov* def. Jorge Patino via unanimous decision – *Mamedov tore ACL and forced out of tourney, Patino re-entered
• Reserve Bout: Ramil Mustapayev def. LaRue Burley via unanimous decision