Donald Cerrone secured another UFC victory on Saturday night in the opening fight of the UFC 160 pay-per-view with a decision victory over KJ Noons.
As the fight opened, Noons began throwing legs kicks and Cerrone went for a takedown attempt. As he completed the attempt, Cerrone landed a knee and backed away.
Noons continued to throw leg kicks to set up his punches to the body. After exchanging strikes, Cerrone looked for a takedown but the attempt was unsuccessful. They continue to strike with each other and Cerrone landed a punch and kick combination with 40 seconds left in the opening round.
After the round was over, Greg Jackson asked Cerrone to look for more takedowns and that is what he did as the round opened. He landed a takedown and went straight to the back of Noons. He was able to get back to his feet and the action moved to the center of the octagon.
While the two were exchanging strikes, Noons wiped his right eye several times where a cut had opened up during the first round. He would land a spinning back fist and charged at Cerrone, but he was taken down. Cerrone had top position and moved to the half guard position. The round would end in this position and Cerrone entered the third round up two rounds.
In the final round, Cerrone continued to win the stand up battle as Noons was looking for a left hook. Cerrone would once again take the fight to the ground and began to work his top game. He landed several elbows over the right eye of Noons where he was previously cut. Cerrone then attacked the left side of Noon’s face and opened up another cut.
Cerrone was able to advance his position on the ground to the half guard position and Noons was attempting to get back to his feet. Once again, Cerrone advanced position to side control and landed several shot shots. The round would end in this position and Cerrone gets the victory by unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the fight for him.
UFC 160 Results:
Donald Cerrone def. KJ Noons via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Mike Pyle def. Rick Story via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Dennis Bermudez def. Max Holloway via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Robert Whittaker def. Colton Smith via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, :41
Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Abel Trujillo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27. 30-27)
Stephen Thompson def. Nah-Shon Burrell via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
George Roop def. Brian Bowles via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:43
Jeremy Stephens def. Estevan Payan via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)