This wasn't your typical preliminary fight. Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone are typically headliners for main event cards. But with the UFC on hiatus due to coronavirus, UFC 249 has an unusually packed slate.
Both Pettis and Cerrone entered Saturday's fight looking to snap losing streaks. Despite their recent struggles, both are incredibly respected around the UFC and fans were delivered a treat with these two meeting in the Octagon. The fight certainly lived up to expectations, though the results were questionable.
Cerrone was aggressive early on, walking down the dangerous Pettis who was content counterstriking. The two traded shots throughout the first but it was Cerrone who landed a takedown late in the first round after a kick by Pettis. Cerrone didn't do much with the takedown, however.
The action picked up more in the second. Both fighters traded blows but Pettis' punches seemed to be inflicting more damage, temporarily stunning Cerrone each time. Once again, though, Cerrone managed to take Pettis to the canvas, although he failed to do much with it once again.
The final frame culminated with some big time excitement. Cerrone was hurt by an inadvertent eye poke with two minutes left in the round and, as a result, ate a few powerful shots before stunning Pettis with a flush kick to the head. With the stakes high, both fighters threw all caution to the wind and started exchanging heavy blows until the final horn sounded.
In the end, the fight went to the judges scorecards and Anthony Pettis came away with a surprising unanimous decision win. All three judges scored it 29-28 for Pettis. The results seemed to surprised both fighters — even Pettis who was caught telling Cerrone, "What the f---. I'll take it."
Cerrone has now lost four straight fights and falls to 36-15 with 1 NC. Still, he looked much better against Pettis than he did against Conor McGregor in January, in which he was TKO'd in just 40 seconds. Pettis snapped a two fight losing streak and is now 23-10. He has now defeated Cerrone twice in the Octagon after ending him in the first round seven years.