UFC Fight Night 45 results: Donald Cerrone floors Jim Miller with head-kick

ATLANTIC CITY – Donald Cerrone‘s prediction that body shots would be the deciding factor against Jim Miller proved accurate, though a clean high kick ultimately got him the win.

Cerrone (24-6 MMA, 11-3 UFC) repeatedly attacked Miller (24-5 MMA, 13-4 UFC) to the belly, which ultimately set up the fight-ending head kick in the second round.

The lightweight bout headlined today’s UFC Fight Night 45 event at Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following a single prelim on UFC Fight Pass.

Cerrone, ranked No. 12 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings, used some first-round knees to slow his opponent’s forward lunges. And though Miller, ranked No. 13, scored a few takedowns, “Cowboy” popped back up in a matter of seconds and traded leather with his foe for much of the evenly matched opening frame.

Early in the second round, the night appeared it’d have its third stoppage due to a body shot. And though replays appeared to show Cerrone’s front kick landed above the belt line, referee Dan Miragliotta ruled it a low blow and gave Miller time to recover. On the restart, though, Cerrone continued battering Miller’s midsection with strikes, fended off takedowns, and then landed the decisive blow.

The fight-ending shot was set up by those kicks to the midsection. When Cerrone feinted a kick to the ribs and forced Miller to brace for impact, he instead went high and caught Miller flush on the head. Miller took one step and stumbled to the mat, and the ref quickly intervened to halt any further punishment.

The knockout stoppage came at the 3:31 mark of the second round.

“I thought it was good, but I’m just glad it went the way it did,” Cerrone said of the kick that forced a temporary halt to the bout. “Body kicks started getting him worried about the body, and I just went up top.”

Cerrone, an always-willing-to-fight and rising contender, picks up his fourth straight win and moves to an impressive 3-0 in 2014. His latest performance, which followed three straight victories in which he earned fight-night performance bonuses, is likely to net him a title eliminator in his next bout.

Miller, meanwhile, snaps a three-fight winning streak (which included one no-contest) and suffers the first knockout loss of his career.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 45 results include:

• Donald Cerrone def. Jim Miller via knockout (head kick) – Round 2, 3:31
• Edson Barboza def. Evan Dunham via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:06
• Rick Story def. Leonardo Mafra via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 2:12
• Joe Proctor def. Justin Salas via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:27
• John Lineker def. Alptekin Ozkilic via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 4:51
• Lucas Martins def. Alex White via knockout (punches) – Round 3, 2:08
• Gleison Tibau def. Pat Healy via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Leslie Smith def. Jessamyn Duke via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:24
• Aljamain Sterling def. Hugo Viana via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 3:50
• Yosdenis Cedeno def. Jerrod Sanders via TKO (injury) – Round 1, 5:00
• Claudia Gadelha def. Tina Lahdemaki via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)

For more on UFC Fight Night 45, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

(John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Atlantic City)