It was expected to be exciting as long as it lasted, and it was – but Justin Gaethje ultimately delivered on another exciting finish, stopping Donald Cerrone in the first.
The lightweight bout was the UFC on ESPN+ 16 main event at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The event streamed on ESPN+.
After a touch of gloves to start the night, both men opened with kicks, Cerrone with some pushing strikes, while Gaethje was digging at the lead leg. Cerrone did his best to counter with punches, but both men were patient in the early going. Cerrone seemed to be the busier man with his hands, but Gaethje fired back with real power on huge right hands. Cerrone’s pace was controlled, picking his angles to attack, but Gaethje was measured, as well, using big hooks as his primary attack.
In the final minute, with Cerrone looking to move forward, Gaethje landing a big right hand to the chin, sending his opponent to his knees. Cerrone tried to stand, but Gaethje unleashed a barrage of uppercuts, again dropping “Cowboy” to a kneeling position. Gaethje clearly hesitated to punch any more than he had to, but he did just enough to get referee Jerin Valel to wave off the fight at the 4:18 mark of the opening round.
Gaethje (21-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) now owns three consecutive first-round knockouts. Cerrone (38-13 MMA, 23-10 UFC) falls to 0-2 in his past two appearances.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN+ 16 results include:
- Justin Gaethje def. Donald Cerrone via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:18
- Glover Teixeira def. Nikita Krylov via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Todd Duffee vs. Jeff Hughes declared a no contest (accidental eye poke) – Round 1, 4:03
- Tristan Connelly def. Michel Pereira via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
- Uriah Hall def. Antonio Carlos Junior via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Misha Cirkunov def. Jim Crute via submission (Peruvian necktie) – Round 1, 3:38
- Augusto Sakai def. Marcin Tybura via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:59
- Miles Johns def. Cole Smith via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Hunter Azure def. Brad Katona via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
- Chas Skelly def. Jordan Griffin via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Louis Smolka def. Ryan MacDonald via TKO (punch) – Round 1, 4:43
- Austin Hubbard def. Kyle Prepolec via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
