The UFC 160: "Velasquez vs. Bigfoot 2" pay-per-view (PPV) kicked off its main card from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, tonight (Sat., May 25, 2013) with a lightweight battle pitting the always thrilling Donald Cerrone against Octagon debutante K.J. Noons.
Really, this was the "Fight of the Night" before the awards were even thought up bout on the PPV portion of the card. Cerrone would get his chance to bounce back from his loss to Anthony Pettis while Noons would finally show up on the big stage after his run through Strikeforce, one that saw him go 1-4 in his last five fights.
He came out firing kicks early in this one, a sound strategy to answer "Cowboy's" aggressive style. A bit unusual, too, considering his boxing background. Still, Cerrone pushed forward through whatever offense "King" offered and connected on more than enough blows to mark up Noons' face.
That includes a big head kick that put a nice little welt on K.J.'s head, right next to his eye.
As the bout wore on, Noons had volume but Cerrone was more effective in his offense. He was cutting angles and landing shots from everywhere before hitting a takedown late and scoring points from on top.
Although "King" did land one hell of a spinning backfist in the second round.
Headed into the third, Cerrone seemed to be up on the cards. Noons, knowing this, came out winging punches, launching wild looping right and left hands that were actually hitting their target. That ended when "Cowboy" decided to take him down and overwhelm him on the ground.
At that point, there was nothing Noons could do.
Cerrone ended up earning the unanimous decision by scores of 30-27 twice and 30-26.
For complete UFC 160 results and blow-by-blow coverage of all the night's action click here.