Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone inserts himself into the UFC lightweight title picture with classy five-round win over Al Iaquinta
Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone looks a man reborn in the Octagon since becoming a father and moving back down to lightweight.
The Colorado kickboxer was in imperious form at UFC Ottawa, bludgeoning Al Iaquinta with an array of punches and kicks on his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Iaquinta appeared to struggle to find his range against the bigger man throughout the 25 minutes. Tough as nails, Iaquinta never relented in his attempts to defeat Cerrone, though.
The Long Islander continued to march forward and land punches despite the punishment he took.
However, Cerrone was the man who imposed his will the best throughout the contest.
The two fighters appeared to have traded wins in the first two rounds. Cerrone quickly established his kicking range, peppering Iaquinta with leg kicks and some upstairs mixed in.
In the second stanza, Iaquinta landed the better of the shots. “Ragin’ Al” appeared to have stung his opponent with a left hook and landed a number of other punches to the body and head in an effort to redeem himself for a first round he would have known he lost.
But Cerrone kicked things up a notch from the third round and Iaquinta failed to solve the riddle Cerrone posed.
Cerrone did a great job in keeping Iaquinta at range with his kicks, but also mixed in a piston-like jab to halt his opponent’s advances to close the distance.
The exemplary performance put in the later rounds by Cerrone was punctuated by two crushing front kicks to the face.
Iaquinta wore the first, but not even he could withstand the second, hitting the deck. But there is no quit in Iaquinta and he somehow sprung back to his feet.
Cerrone deservedly got the nod from the judges, taking a unanimous decision win over five rounds.
Cowboy has now strung together three wins since becoming a dad and has extended his extended his UFC record for wins to 23.
The veteran would like either a title shot or a crack at one Conor McGregor next.
UFC Fight Night 151: Al Iaquinta vs. Cowboy Cerrone full results
Lightweight: Donald Cerrone def. Al Iaquinta by unanimous decision after five rounds
Middleweight: Derek Brunson def. Elias Theodorou by unanimous decision after three rounds
Featherweight: Shane Burgos def. Cub Swanson by split decision after three rounds
Bantamweight: Merab Dvalishvili def. Brad Katona by unanimous decision after three rounds
Heavyweight: Walt Harris def. Serghei Spivac by TKO (knees and punches) at 0:50 of round one
Middleweight: Andrew Sanchez def. Marc-Andre Barriault by unanimous decision after three rounds
Women’s Bantamweight: Macy Chiasson def. Sarah Moras by TKO (punches) at 2:22 of round two
Bantamweight: Vince Morales def. Aiemann Zahabi by unanimous decision after three rounds
Welterweight: Nordine Taleb def. Kyle Prepolec by unanimous decision after three rounds
Featherweight: Matt Sayles def. Kyle Nelson by submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:16 of round three
Heavyweight: Arjan Bhullar def. Juan Adams by unanimous decision after three rounds
Bantamweight: Cole Smith def. Mitch Gagnon by unanimous decision after three rounds
