RAFAEL DOS ANJOS is still the UFC lightweight champion after he took just over a minute to dispose of Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone tonight in Orlando.
In what was a rematch of their 2013 bout, which dos Anjos won via decision, the Brazilian didn’t need the help of the judges on this occasion.
Dos Anjos, who was defending the belt for the first time since dethroning Anthony Pettis back in March, hurt Cerrone with a kick to the body before unloading a flurry of punches.
Cerrone managed to survive the onslaught before lazily shooting for a takedown. But that was easily scuffed by dos Anjos, who took his opponent’s back and landed strikes until referee Herb Dean stepped in to bring Cerrone’s eight-fight win streak to an end.
The result could set up a title defence for dos Anjos against newly-crowned featherweight champion Conor McGregor, with McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh writing on Friday in his column here on The42 that the Irish star is set to fight for the lightweight belt in April.
Dos Anjos’ win over Cerrone was the fastest lightweight title fight in UFC history, and the champion had a message for Conor McGregor when he spoke to Joe Rogan for his post-fight interview:
“Hey, Mr McGregor! If you want to come to the lightweight division, this is my division. You better stay in the featherweight division. I’ll fight you in Brazil, I’ll go to Ireland and face you there, wherever you want. I’m here to say.”
In the co-main event, Alistair Overeem strengthened his claims for a heavyweight title shot by picking up his third consecutive win courtesy of a second-round TKO of former champion Junior dos Santos, who protested to referee Dan Miragliotta over what he felt was an early stoppage.
Elsewhere on the main card, Nate Diaz returned after a year-long lay-off to defeat Michael Johnson, and Polish strawweight Karolina Kowalkiewicz looked impressive in her UFC debut as she overcame Randa Markos.
UFC Orlando results
- Rafael dos Anjos def. Donald Cerrone via TKO (punches) after 1:06 of round one
- Alistair Overeem def. Junior dos Santos via TKO (punches) after 4:43 of round two
- Nate Diaz def. Michael Johnson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Randa Markos via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Charles Oliveira def. Myles Jury via submission (guillotine choke) after 3:05 of round one
- Nate Marquardt def. CB Dollaway via KO (punch) after 0:28 of round two
- Valentina Shevchenko def. Sarah Kaufman via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Tamdan McCrory def. Josh Samman via submission (triangle choke) after 4:10 of round three
- Nik Lentz def. Danny Castillo via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
- Cole Miller vs. Jim Alers — no contest (accidental eye poke by Alers) after 1:44 of round two
- Kamaru Usman def. Leon Edwards via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
- Vicente Luque def. Hayder Hassan via technical submission (anaconda choke) after 2:13 of round one
- Francis Ngannou def. Luis Henrique via KO (punch) after 2:53 of round two
