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VANCOUVER – Winning so quickly and decisively was a surprise for Justin (Highlight) Gaethje on Saturday night.
Gaethje used a violent right hand to knock out Donald (The Cowboy) Cerrone, then cashed a series of punches to force the referee to stop his match at 4:18 of the first round of the UFC Fight Night.
"I'm always surprised," said Gaethje, 5th in the world. "I'm going there and I'm not sure I'm good enough.
"It's in my head, are you good enough, do you belong here?" "You can go back with false confidence, but that does not get you anywhere."
Canadian Tristan (Boondock) Connelly also sent a strong message to all skeptics.
The Vancouver-based fighter, who was late on the map, had a cinderella moment beating Brazil's Michel (Demolidor) Pereira in a unanimous welterweight decision.
"I think the situation is going to be a bit different from tomorrow," said Connelly, who earned $ 100,000 in bonuses for the win.
Connelly, a native of Victoria, learned that Monday night, he would fight against Pereira after the abandonment of the first opponent, Sergey Khandozhko, because of visa problems.
Pereira is a stalwart fighter but Connelly has refused to be intimidated by her backflips and whimsical moves.
"I'm a fighter," said Connelly, who debuted at the UFC. "If doing backflips was what I thought was important in the fighting, I would be good at backflips, I can not do anything to save my life."
"I'm training to hit people, shock them and kick them in. That's what seems to work in most fights I watch."
Connelly was powered by the energy of the crowd of 15,114 people attending the Rogers Arena, who showed their support.
"Unreal," said Connelly, who improved his record to 14-6-0. "Coming out, seeing everyone, I saw faces I knew, it was really something special."
During the preparation of the event, the match Gaethje-Cerrone was presented as a possible candidate for the fight of the year. It took less time for Gaethje to end the night of Cerrone.
"I really learned to trust my instinct," said the Arvada resident, Colorado, who improved his record to 21-2-0 with his 18th knockout.
"I learned that two or three hammers are attached to these arms."
Cerrone, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, hoped to use this fight to re-assert himself as a threat to the title. He holds the record of victories of the UFC (23) and finishes 16.
"Justin is a stud farm," said Cerrone, who spoke to reporters wearing a cowboy hat and holding his infant son. "I thought he was a little more aggressive, he's going to do great things."
Cerrone's second loss leaves his record at 36-13-0, but he does not plan to retire.
In another fight with Canadian content, the lightweight, Misha Cirkunov, used a wedge to force Australian Jimmy Crute to score a goal at 3:38 of the first round of their match. Cirkunov, ranked number 15, comes from Riga, Latvia, but is now fighting in Toronto
"I spent my whole summer at that time, I worked like a dog," said Cirkunov, who improved to 15-5-0.
This is Crute's first defeat in 11 fights.
Other Canadian fighters have had difficulties.
Cole (The Cole Train) Smith, of Squamish, BC, suffered his first loss in eight fights against Miles (Chapo) Johns of Dallas, in a shared battle, in a battle of undefeated wealthy bats. Johns improved to 9-0-0.
Austin (Thud) Hubbard of Denver, Colorado, won the first match of the night in lightweight overall against Kyle (Killshot) Prepolec of Windsor, Ont. Hubbard improved to 11-3-0. The Prepolec record is 12-7-0
In another unanimous decision, Brad (Superman) Katona of Winnipeg lost to Hunter Azure of Phoenix in a mid-cock game. Katona, winner of season 27 of the Ultimate Fighter who finished the fight with a bloody face, is 9-2-0. Azure remains undefeated at 7-0-1.
In the fight that preceded the main event, the Brazilian Glover Teixeira won his fourth straight victory with a split decision in a light heavyweight match against Ukrainian Nikita (The Miner) Krylov. Teixeira, number 9, improved his record to 30-7-0. Krylov, who had never traveled the distance in a fight before, is 26-7-0.
In other fights, Louis (Da Last Samurai) Smolka of Kapolei, Hawaii, improved to 16-6 with a TKO win over Ryan (Main Event) MacDonald (10-2-0) from North Platte, Neb ., In a bantamweight fight. Smolka won the fight with a vicious left hook that dropped Macdonald at 4:43 of the first round.
Chas (The Scrapper) Skelly, of Arlington, Texas, improved his record to 18-3-0 with a unanimous decision over Jordan (Native Psycho) Griffin of Milwaukee in a featherweight battle. Griffin dropped to 17-7-0.
Brazil's Augusto Sakai took 59 seconds to knock down Poland's Marcin Tybura in a flurry of punches to win the heavyweight battle with a knockout. Sakai, ranked No. 15, saw his record improve to 14-1-0. Tybura, ranked No. 14, has a score of 17-6-0.
Uriah (Prime Time) of Kingston, Jamaica, won a decision shared by Anton (Cara De Sapato), Carlos Junior, of Rio de Janeiro, in a middleweight bout. Hall, ranked No. 12, is 16-9-0 while No. 13, Carlos Junior, is 11-4.
A heavyweight bout between Todd Duffee and Jeff (Lights Out) Hughes was deemed unquestionable. A doctor stopped the fight early in the first round after Duffee was stung in the eye.
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