LAS VEGAS – Donald Cerrone (25-6 MMA, 12-3 UFC) might not have started as strong as he would have liked against Eddie Alvarez (25-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC), but what matters most is that he finished that way, using kicks and knees to wear Alvarez down before ultimate taking a unanimous decision victory (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over the former Bellator lightweight champ. The lightweight bout was the co-main event of today’s UFC 178 event at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass. Alvarez took good advantage of Cerrone’s slow start in the first, using a damaging series of right hands inside the clinch to slice Cerrone’s face open in the first frame. But Cerrone would rebound on the strength of his kicking game, attacking Alvarez’s lead leg with brutal kicks in the second before dropping a hobbled Alvarez with a leg kick in the third. But rather than forcing Alvarez to stand, Cerrone made the surprising decision to follow him to the floor, where he would end the fight feeding elbows to Alvarez from the half-guard.
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UFC 178 results, photos: Donald Cerrone gets past gritty Eddie Alvarez – MMA Junkie