At UFC 126, Donald Cerrone (14-3) showed that WEC lightweights do have a home in the UFC, as he submitted Paul Kelly (11-4) in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Kelly started the fight oddly, throwing a punch immediately after the two had touched gloves. Cerrone reacted with a quick takedown. Kelly tried in vain for a guillotine, but Cerrone broke away and the two returned to their feet. Cerrone took charge in the stand-up, landing big strikes, then taking Kelly down. When on the ground, Cerrone landed several elbows, including one that cut Kelly near his right eye.
Kelly tried to take over the fight in the second round, continuously moving forward and throwing punches, but Cerrone used his ground game to win the fight. He took Kelly down with a textbook trip, then moved to full mount. After reopening the cut on Kelly's face with strikes, Cerrone moved behind to to secure a body lock. Kelly tried to escape, but just opened his neck up for Cerrone to slap a perfect rear naked choke. Kelly had no choice but to tap at 3:48 in the second round.
Cerrone had been a top contender in the WEC's lightweight division for years, coming up short in title bouts against Jamie Varner and Ben Henderson. But any questions about his place in the UFC were answered with how he dominated Kelly.
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