Donald Cerrone was on fire tonight against Patrick Cote in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 89, intially showing off some slick takedowns, and later dropping Cote multiple times with hooks, leading to a TKO stoppage in the third round.
Round One:
Cote misses with a leg kick to start. He does land an overhand right though. He goes for that again, but Cerrone ducks under and lands a nice early takedown.
Not even 30 seconds into the fight and Cerrone works from Cote’s full guard in the middle of the Octagon. Not a whole lot of action as Cote looks to stifle Cerrone’s opportunities for offense while thinking about potential submission opportunities.
Cote tries an omaplata, but Ceerrone gets out of that and they go back upright.
Kick to the body and punch from Cote. Now a kick from Cerrone. He threatens with a kick upstairs. As Cote comes in again, Cerrone lands another perfect takedown and is in half-guard now.
Cerrone looks to move into mount and happily settles for back mount. He looks for the rear-naked choke, but it’s not there for the time being. He does lock in the body triangle though and now has a minute left to find the finish.
There’s a scramble and Cote attempts a kimura, but Cerrone gets out of that and stands over his opponent landing a couple of kicks as the round ends.
Round Two:
Nice body kick for Cote. One in return from Cerrone. Punch to the head and one to the body from Cerrone. Solid kick for Cerrone. Now another as Cote comes in that seems to buckle his leg for a moment.
Cerrone with a solid flurry. left hook for Cote. Big leg kick for Cerrone staggers Cote again. He’s not liking those kicks, but he does land one of his own.
Cote scores with a right hand. Now a punch to the body. He lands a few hooks, but Cerrone then returns fire and snaps back Cote’s head with punches.
Uppercut for Cote. Brief clinch and a knee for Cerrone. Good counter kicks from ‘Cowboy’ here. Cote looks for the uppercut again, but doesn’t find a home for it this time.
Leaping leg kick for Cote. Straight punches down the pipe for Cerrone gets Cote’s attention. Cerrone gets creative with an upward elbow and then lands a punch that floors Cote.
Cerrone follows him down and lands some ground and pound, but then decides to just stand back up and get back to striking.
Cote stands up quickly and presses forward at Cerrone, winging a big punch at him, but it doesn’t land.
Cote’s all kinds of tough, but Cerrone is picking him apart here. ‘Cowboy’ goes to town with a combination of punches against the cage, but Cote shrugs it off. As the round ends the two men smile and touch gloves.
Round Three:
Hard leg kick for Cerrone. Nice body punch and a hook from Cote. Big left hook for Cerrone and then another soon after that floors Cote again.
Cote back to his knees and tries to go for a single leg, but it doesn’t work out and Cerrone walks away and gets him to stand again.
Another hard leg kick for Cerrone. Now another on the other leg. Cote still throwing, but not quite landing. Hard kick upstairs from Cerrone.
Another head kick from Cerrone. Big right hand for Cote. Cerrone with a punch and then a head kick attempt.
Still half the round remaining. Another punishing left hook for Cerrone rocks Cote, then he puts him down with two right hands in a row. Exceptional stuff from Cerrone here and as he looks for the finish on the mat and the referee has seen enough, ‘Cowboy’ wins by TKO with
Spectacular performance from Cerrone, showing that he’s got what it takes to hang at 170lbs in style. It’s always fun to watch ‘Cowboy’ fight, but particularly on nights like this when he’s clearly in the zone.
