Donald Cerrone impressed tonight at UFC Fight Night 151 as he systematically beat up Al Iaquinta over the course of 25 minutes to earn a well deserved unanimous decision victory.
Round One:
The main event of the evening is underway in Ontario, Canada.
Iaquinta starts almost still in the center of the Octagon and then suddenly shuffled forward trying to land a side kick to the body.
Iaquinta starts trying to look for the body punch from range, but then lands a leg kick and then a body kick. Leg kick for Cerrone.
Right hook for Iaquinta glances the target. Punch for Cerrone. Jab for him now. Iaquinta going low with a punch and almost eats a kick for his troubles.
Hard body kick for Cerrone. Short right hook in close for Iaquinta. Right hand gets through for him. leg kick for Cerrone. Now a jab.
Cerrone tries to come forward with a series of punches that don’t hit the target. Big punch from Iaquinta misses. Leg kick lands hard for Cerrone.
Leg kick for Cerrone, but Iaquinta caught it and lands a nice counter punch. Glancing right hand for Iaquinta and then tries it again and misses. Counter hook for Cerrone. Iaquinta lands a good punch in close. Now a head kick attempt from Cerrone is blocked.
Iaquinta ducks in for a takedown attempt and Cerrone perfectly times a big knee to the head, but somehow he barely flinches at all. Unfortunately for him he doesn’t land the takedown from it though. Cerrone feels at a swelling on his face as he heads back to his corner inbetween rounds.
Round Two:
Swing and a miss from Iaquinta and a short counter from Cerrone in return. Body punch from iaquinta. Leg kick for Cerrone and one in return.
More kicks for Iaquinta. Kick for Cerrone, but Iaquinta’s counter punch lands better. leg kick for Cerrone and the solid counter again from Iaquinta.
Jab for Iaquinta. Leg kick for Cerrone. Another lands and both of those seemed to buckle Iaquinta’s leg a bit. Another kick is almost caught though.
Inside leg kick for Cerrone. Body punch and then a hook upstairs lands clean for Iaquinta. Another big punch lands to the head. Iaquinta with a head kick attempt that doesn’t pay off.
Leg kick counter from Iaquinta now. Front kick to the body from Cerrone. Iaquinta trying to pressure here. He just misses with a hook. One-two for Cerrone. Another left hand for him. Head kick attempt from Iaquinta is blocked. Hard leg kick from Cerrone. Now a left hook.
Front kick to the body from Cerrone. leg kick from Iaquinta checked. Right hand and then a left hook for Iaquinta. He lands another big punch off a caught leg kick that staggers Cerrone backwards a little.
Both men still looking to exchange as the round ends.
Round Three:
Leg kick for Iaquinta. Right hand for him. Leg kick for Cerrone. Inside leg kick from Iaquinta. Kick from Cerrone misses.
Cerrone pumps out the jab. He lands a leg kick. Body kick for Cerrone. Punch to the body for Iaquinta. exchange in close and Iaquinta gets the better of it.
Cerrone with a body kick. Now a leg kick. Iaquinta’s face a mask of blood at the moment as he struggles to close the distance without getting peppered with punches.
Hard leg kick for Cerrone. Right hand for Cerrone. Iaquinta trying to grab a leg but nothing doing. Leg kick for Cerrone. Nice left hand for Cerrone.
overhand lands for Iaquinta. High kick from Cerrone blocked. Punishing body kick from Cerrone. He stumbles to the mat from a leg kick, but gets back up before Iaquinta can capitalize.
Good right hand for Iaquinta. now a right hand as Cerrone lands a leg kick. Body kick for Cowboy. Short left hand from Cerrone and that drops Iaquinta. Cerrone follows him to the mat and blasts him with good ground and pound, but the bell sounds.
Round Four:
Inside leg kick for Cerrone. Left hand gets through for Iaquinta. Push kick for Cerrone. Then a front kick to the head and that floors Iaquinta!
However, Iaquinta is not done yet and manages to get back upright. Extremely tough to do that. Jabs for Cerrone. Now a leg kick.
Cerrone lands a short leg kick. More jabs landing crisply for Cowboy. Head kick attempt comes up short. Left hook for Iaquinta.
Right hook for Cerrone comes off the gloves. Body kick from Cerrone. And again. left hook to the jaw lands again for Iaquinta. Right hand for Cerrone.
Left hook and then an uppercut from Cerrone. Hard straight right for Iaquinta, but then a hard counter combo from Cerrone.
Cerrone with a push kick. Good jab for him. Good leg kick now. Attempted high kick is blocked. Flurry of punches from Cerrone.
Leg kick for Cerrone. Iaquinta catches the kick, but can’t do anything with it. Iaquinta circles away from his opponent in the final few seconds of the round.
Round Five:
Body punch and one upstair from Iaquinta. He moves forward behind jabs. Leg kick for Cerrone. Jab for him. Overhand right for Iaquinta.
Right hand for Iaquinta. Double jab for Cerrone. low leg kick for Cerrone. And another. Leg kick for Iaquinta. More left hands from Cerrone and another leg kick.
Iaquinta circles. Jab lands for Cerrone. Now a kick. Kicks lands for Cerrone, but a hard right hand counter comes from Iaquinta.
Front kick partially lands to the face from Cerrone. Low leg kick for him. Body kick for Cerrone. Two minutes to go. Right hand gets through for Cerrone. Now a hard left for Iaquinta. Cerrone fires back with a short flurry.
Leg kick from Cerrone. leg kick again, but it’s caught this time. Iaquinta can’t do anything with it though. Jab for Cerrone still finding the mark.
Kick upstairs from Cerrone is blocked. Head kick from Iaquinta but doesn’t land hard. Cerrone with a long series of punches. One-two and a leg kick for Cerrone. He tries for a jumping knee and goes flying over the ducking Iaquinta. Iaquinta falls to the mat and Cerrone wades in, but the final bell sounds.
Decision:
Terrific performance from ‘Cowboy’ here then against the exceptionally tough Iaquinta and it earns him a unanimous decision victory (49-45 x2, 49-46).
