UFC 206 results: 'Cowboy' Cerrone lays out Matt Brown with third-round head-kick knockout

TORONTO – Donald Cerrone and Matt Brown were deep into a close battle that seemed like a nightmare to score, and that’s when “Cowboy” decided to make it easy on the judges.

A left high kick from Cerrone (32-7 MMA, 19-4 UFC) caught Brown (20-16 MMA, 13-10 UFC) squarely on the jaw, dropping him unconscious on the mat at the 0:34 mark of Round 3.

The welterweight bout was the co-main event of today’s UFC 206 event at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Those were expecting a slugfest when this fight was announced were not disappointed throughout the first two rounds. Cerrone started things off by digging to Brown’s body with kicks early on, only to have Brown come back with stiff right hands and a triangle choke attempt late in the round that nearly caught Cerrone by surprise when he rushed in to take advantage of a Brown slip.

The second round saw both men take turns flooring each other. Brown went first, dropping Cerrone with a hard right hand that landed high on the head. Moments later, Cerrone repaid the favor with a kick. Brown, however, managed to collect his wits enough to score with another right late in the round, leaving Cerrone to return to his corner with a rapidly swelling left eye.

But just as it seemed like both men were digging in for a battle that would last until the final seconds of the third, Cerrone landed the decisive blow.

With Brown ducking his head off to the right, Cerrone flicked a quick left high kick that snapped against Brown’s jaw with a sickening crack, sending him tumbling to the mat with his arms up at his sides. That convinced referee John McCarthy to move in and stop it, though by then Cerrone had already assessed the situation for himself and walked away without adding any unnecessary damage.

“It was a tough fight,” Cerrone said. “When you’re in there, you really have to dig deep. After I took a couple of punches I said, ‘Hell no. Not today, baby.’ The head kick was there. I saw him feinting to that side and I went for it. I want to fight in Denver against anyone who will sign on the dotted line.”

Cerrone has now won four straight in the UFC since his move up to welterweight. Brown loses his third in a row, and his fifth in six outings.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 206 results include:

• Donald Cerrone def. Matt Brown via knockout (head kick) – Round 3, 0:34
• Cub Swanson def. Dooho Choi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Kelvin Gastelum def. Tim Kennedy via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 2:45
• Emil Meek def. Jordan Mein via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Misha Cirkunov def. Nikita Krylov via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 4:38
• Olivier Aubin-Mercier def. Drew Dober via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:57
• Viviane Pereira def. Valerie Letourneau via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Matthew Lopez def. Mitch Gagnon via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
• Lando Vannata def. John Makdessi via knockout (head kick) – Round 1, 1:40
• Rustam Khabilov def. Jason Saggo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Dustin Ortiz def. Zach Makovsky via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

For complete coverage of UFC 206, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s Dann Stupp and Mike Bohn contributed to this report on site in Toronto.)