Donald Cerrone finally got a win over Ben Henderson in their third encounter tonight at UFC Fight Night 59, though it came via a somewhat controversial judges decision.
Round One:
A few punches from both men miss to start this one. Henderson with another punch missed and eats a jab from Cerrone.
Early exchanges of punches here as they feel their way into the fight. Nice right hand for Cerrone. Henderson lands a kick to the knee. Henderson targets the body with a punch.
Good right hook lands for Henderson. He tries a spinning head kick, but it misses. Low leg kick for the former champion and Cerrone responds with one of his own.
Henderson with a punch to the leg and Cerrone with one to the body. Another punch to the body for Henderson. Cerrone with a kick to the leg.
Body kick for Henderson. Now he goes low with another kick and lands a punch upstairs. Left hook for Cerrone and avoids a winging counter.
Henderson with a series of side kicks to the lead thigh of Cerrone. Cerrone with a leg kick and a front kick to the body in respnse.
Left hand connects for Cerrone. He lands a hard body kick. Henderson keeping his distance as the round draws to a conclusion.
Round Two:
Henderson back to the side kicks to the front of Cerrone’s lead leg. Cerrone lands a kick to the leg himself. They clinch and Henderson lands a couple of nice knees before they break apart.
Henderson in aggressively with a punch but misses and Cerrone lands with a couple of punches. Nice little combination from Henderson.
Cerrone eats a body kick as he moves in. Punches and a kick from Henderson. Little flurry from Cerrone sends Henderson backwards a tad.
Chopping leg kick from Henderson. He connects with a body kick too and then another leg kick. Cerrone tries to let his hands go but comes up short.
Another nice leg kick from Henderson. Cerrone with a hook and then a kick upstairs. Henderson still going for those side kicks to the leg at times. He’s mixing things up well and is the busier of the two men at this stage.
Cerrone suddenly gets a takedown and gets a little top control time though he’s unable to do much with the position before Henderson gets upright again.
Henderson back to landing a solid leg kick. Another goes to the body. Cerrone lands a nice knee to the body and then lands a high kick, but Henderson shrugs it off. Henderson back at him as the round comes to a close.
Round Three:
Henderson with a kick and Cerrone tags him with a few punches on the counter. Leg kick for Cerrone. Henderson punches hard to the body.
Leg kick for Henderson, high kick for Cerrone in return. Cerrone with a combination of punches, some of which land.
More side kicks to the lead leg from Henderson and a punch there too. Head kick from Henderson and it connects solidly, though Cerrone partially catches it.
Cerrone clinching and looking for a takedown but they break apart. Henderson with another high kick that’s caught.
Henderson with a hard knee to the midsection. Better work starting to come from Henderson again now.
Henderson tries for a high kick, misses and Cerrone gets a momentary takedown off of it.
Cerrone clinches up again, but then goes back to striking. Two straight punches land for Cerrone. Hard leg kick for Cerrone.
Final minute and they start to exchange in close. Jumping knee to the body for Henderson. Punch from Henderson and a head kick from Cerrone just misses. Body kicks from bot hmen. Cerrone with a flyin knee and a punch behind it as the fight ends at a high tempo.
Decision:
Good, competitive fight, but overall Henderson was putting together his striking better on the night and seemed to have more energy. However, that’s just my opinion and the judges disagree, giving Cerrone a unanimous decision win (29-28 x3).
