UFC 167 results, photos, gifs: Relentless Donald Cerrone submits Evan Dunham in second

LAS VEGAS – Donald Cerrone fought like a man with his back against the wall, and after delivering a signature performance against Evan Dunham, he revealed that he was.

Cerrone said he had contemplated retiring if he wasn’t successful against Dunham, but a second-round submission put that thought to rest.

The lightweight bout closed out the preliminary card of today’s UFC 167 event at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following additional prelims on MMAjunkie and ahead of the main card on pay-per-view.

Cerrone locked Dunham in a triangle choke to secure a tapout late into the second round. In doing so, he bounced back from a lackluster decision loss in a previous outing against Rafael dos Anjos. But from the outset, it was his striking that paid dividends in the fight.

Grappling specialist Dunham was intercepted by knees and kicks with every attempt to get the fight to the mat. One particular knee badly hurt him in the first round, and follow-up punches dropped him to the canvas and threatened a stoppage.

Cerrone could not secure the TKO, but never let Dunham wage a counter-charge.

Dunham came back swinging in the second round and found his range with a few punches in close. Cerrone then took the fight to the mat, where he was reversed, and Dunham appeared to have his change to even the score.

Instead, Cerrone locked in a choke and forced Dunham to tap at the 3:49 mark of the second frame. It was Cerrone’s seventh career win via triangle.

“This fight was big for me,” Cerrone said. “I told myself that if I didn’t go out there and perform like I know I’m capable of, then I would’ve retired. It’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself, but it really helped me get back that inner fire and drive that I haven’t had in a long time. The money starts to come and people start to recognize you and the drive slips. I always told myself that wouldn’t happen to me, but it did.”

Cerrone (21-6 MMA, 8-3 UFC) has alternated wins and losses in his past four outings while Dunham (14-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) is 1-3 in his past four fights.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 167 results include:

• Donald Cerrone def. Evan Dunham via submission (triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:49
• Thales Leites def. Ed Herman via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Rick Story def. Brian Ebersole via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Erik Perez def. Edwin Figueroa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Jason High def. Anthony Lapsley via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Sergio Pettis def. Will Campuzano via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Gian Villante def. Cody Donovan via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:22

For complete coverage of UFC 167, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

John Morgan contributed to this report on-site in Las Vegas.