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UFC veteran Donald Cerrone's return to the Octagon after his disappointing loss against Conor McGregor at UFC 246 didn't go as he'd have hoped. In a fight that was advertised by the UFC as a preliminary card main event, Cerrone went up against Anthony Pettis.
In a back and forth encounter, the judges at cageside gave the nod to Pettis with a 29-28 score, handing Cowboy his fourth straight loss inside the Octagon. Pettis shrugged off a two-fight losing streak with the win against Cerrone.
During the post-fight interview, Pettis said he thought it was a close fight and that he is glad both Cowboy and himself threw caution to the wind inside the Octagon.
“I’ll take it. I thought that was close. He’s a legend. We’re friends. We put it on the line.”
When it was showtime, Pettis well and truly showed up
Post the embarrassing 40-second TKO loss against McGregor, Cerrone had a lot to prove heading into the fight. Many people doubted that the veteran fighter's time is up ahead of the fight but Cerrone clearly begged to differ, stepping his foot on the accelerator from the get-go. Cerrone planned to catch Pettis off guard with relentless strikes. However, Pettis finished the round on a high by cracking Cerrone flush on the chin.
In the second round, Pettis found his way back into the fight, using his unorthodox striking ability to put Cowboy under pressure. Pettis' counter striking strategy worked brilliantly for him in the fight, stopping Cerrone in his tracks whenever he tried to take the fight to "Showtime". Desperate to get the better of Pettis in the fight, Cerrone mixed it up, combining takedown attempts with a strong stand-up game but to no avail.
This was a much needed win for Pettis who bounced back from a bad run of losses in his last two fights while Cerrone will be utterly disappointed with the result, having lost all four of his last four fights inside the Octagon.
