Alex Morono took advantage of his short-notice opportunity at UFC Vegas 26, stopping Donald Cerrone with strikes in the first round.
On a card ravaged by injury, Donald Cerrone remained, a legend badly in need of a win at UFC Vegas 26. Rather than an admittedly favourable match-up with Diego Sanchez, however, Cerrone was up against a short-notice replacement in Alex Morono.
Cerrone came into the fight winless in his last six contest, fighting to a draw with Niko Price last time out. Morono had lost two of his last three.
Morono sprinted forward to start the fight and fired a right hand that Cerrone ducked under to clinch up . Morono landed a pair of uppercuts then a head kick, and Cerrone fired back with a body kick. Log lunging hooks were the attack of choice for Morono and they were landing at a solid rate, but Cerrone was meeting him with heavy body kicks on the other side. Cerrone ducked in for a clinch and drove Morono to the cage, but couldn’t get the takedown he wanted. They went to the clinch again, but Morono broke free and kept the pressure on. He landed a huge right hand over the top that sent Cerrone stumbling. Morono pursued the finish, connecting with big haymakers as Cerrone retreated to the fence. A second sequence of punches drew the finish from the referee.
Short notice was no problem for @alexmoronomma, who finished Cowboy Cerrone late in the first round at #UFCVegas26 😯 pic.twitter.com/qeWC5Q3tfc
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 9, 2021
Afterwards, Morono explained that he had one day of hard training due to the short-notice nature of the contest, but that short-notice fights have always treated him well.
Alex Morono def. Donald Cerrone by TKO (Punches) in Round 1 (4:40)
