They didn’t shake hands all week but they did so at the start of the third round on Saturday night.
But just 34 seconds later, Matt Brown was close to out cold courtesy of a perfectly placed left shin from Donald Cerrone in the co-main event of UFC 206.
‘Cowboy’ had wanted to show respect to Brown all week but every handshake offer was refused, right up until the stools left the Octagon after a back-and-forth two rounds of action.
Both men had flashes of success on the feet, with Cerrone finding a home for his switch kick all night, but the recent convert to 170lbs came into trouble on the mat and was caught in a deep triangle choke in the first round.
He unsurprisingly gutted it out and continued to pepper away from the outside, turning Brown’s face into a bloody mess for ten minutes.
It was in the third and final round that the deciding blow found its home as Cerrone timed his opponent’s decision to duck and arced a stunning roundhouse kick into Brown’s neck.
OH MY GOODNESS! What a KO from @Cowboycerrone! ??? #UFC206 https://t.co/3WmPmSn05M
— BT Sport UFC (@btsportufc) December 11, 2016
‘The Immortal’ was flung backwards and Cerrone knew that there was no need to hammer home any further shots as he stepped away victorious, making it 4-0 at welterweight with all wins coming inside the distance.
And if you needed a reminder of how incredible ‘Cowboy’ has looked at 170lbs, why not come right this way?
Diarmuid Connolly makes his long overdue GAA Hour debut and talks to Colm Parkinson about everything from the black card to his rivalry with Lee Keegan and how he honed the ability to kick accurately with either foot.
