It was a homecoming to remember for Donald Cerrone at UFC 150.
The “Cowboy” openly lobbied for a spot on the card in his home state of Colorado, and the effort paid off, netting him $120,000 in bonuses.
Cerrone earned the $60,000 Knockout of the Night award for his first-round finish of Melvin Guillard, and he also collected the same amount for his half of the wild 76-second bout, which earned the duo the Fight of the Night.
Cerrone found himself in trouble early in the fight, wobbled by a left hand from the powerful Guillard. But Cerrone withstood the barrage that followed, and moments later, uncorked a head kick that left Guillard on rubbery legs. Cerrone pounced and drilled him with a straight right that put Guillard out for the finish.
Amazingly, it was only the second career knockout for Cerrone, who has earned 13 of his 19 career wins via submission.
The Submission of the Night was earned by Dennis Bermudez, who also overcame a rocky start to finish Tommy Hayden with a first-round guillotine. That was an easy decision for UFC brass, since it was the only tapout finish of the night.
Meanwhile, six of the 10 fights were finished by knockout or TKO.
In the main event, Ben Henderson earned a split-decision victory over Frankie Edgar to retain the UFC lightweight championship.