OTTAWA — Stephen (Wonderboy) Thompson won a unanimous five-round decision over Rory (Red King) MacDonald in a battle of top welterweight contenders at UFC Fight Night 89 Saturday night.

As promised, it was a technical fight with both men looking to control the range. Thompson kept on the move and was more active, with MacDonald struggling to score — or come up with a solution.

The judges scored it 50-45, 50-45, 48-47 for Thompson (13-1-0), who left MacDonald bloodied and confused.

MacDonald, a native of Kelowna, B.C., who fights out of Montreal, was one of 10 Canadians on the 13-fight televised card before a sellout crowd of 10,490 at The Arena at TD Place. Canadians went 6-4 on the night.

MacDonald, who said he broke his nose in the fifth round, said he gave it his best. "I can't take anything away from Stephen," he said.

It was MacDonald's first fight since last July when he suffered a bloody fifth-round TKO at the hands of welterweight champion (Ruthless) Robbie Lawler that left the challenger with a badly broken nose.

It also marked the last fight on MacDonald's current contract with the fighter gambling a win would help attract a better offer from the UFC or elsewhere.

Thompson, who spent time at MacDonald's Tristar Gym in Montreal some years ago, came into the fight having won six straight — most recently registering first-round stoppages of Jake (The Juggernaut) Ellenberger and former title-holder Johny (Bigg Rigg) Hendricks.

MacDonald (18-4-0) is ranked No. 1 among 170-pound contenders while Thompson is No. 2. Lawler, who also won a split decision over MacDonald in 2013, fights No. 3 Tyron Woodley on July 30.

"I want the winner," Thompson said.

Thompson, 33, walked in first to the sounds of "Wonderboy" by Tenacious D. MacDonald, 26, followed to cheers and the pounding beat of Korn's "Got the Life."

A former world champion kickboxer, Thompson fights from assorted stances with a dizzying array of strikes.

That made for a cautious first round. MacDonald tried twice to grab a leg for a submission attempt via Imanari roll, only to have Thompson move away. They exchanged blows at the fence in a clinch.

In the second, there were more feints with McDonald again looking to secure a leg. Thompson fought him off and began to find his rhythm.

MacDonald, trailing on the scorecards, came forward in the third. Thompson moved and took him down, stepping away when MacDonald went for a leglock.

In the fourth, Thompson fought off a clinch and flicked punches and kicks at MacDonald. "Keep moving," Thompson's corner yelled. The crowd didn't like it much but Thompson floated in and out of range.

MacDonald came out hard in the fifth but Thompson handled the urgency with counter-strikes. MacDonald was bleeding from the nose after absorbing a wheel kick to the face.

After a clash on the ground, more blood gushed from MacDonald's face.

In the co-main event, Donald (Cowboy) Cerrone put on a show in moving up a weight class by stopping Montreal welterweight Patrick (The Predator) Cote at 2:35 of the third round. Cerrone had the upper hand from the get-go.

It was the second fight at 170 pounds for the popular Cerrone, who is ranked No. 4 among lightweight (155-pound) contenders. Cote is a former middleweight who once fought for the 185-pound title.

Cerrone (30-7-0 with one no contest) looked polished and dangerous at welterweight, showing his power by knocking Cote down three times.

Cote (24-10-0) took some big swings early, only to be taken down twice by Cerrone in the first round and had to fight off a choke. Cerrone punished Cote with kicks to the leg in the second round. He dropped Cote near the end of the round with a left to the chin but Cote gutted out the round, inviting Cerrone to swing away at the end.

Cote was floored twice in the third, with Cerrone clinically putting him away. Cerrone collected a US$50,000 performance of the night bonus.

Earlier, light-heavyweight Steve (The Boss) Bosse of Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que., won a 29-28, 29-28, 29-27 decision over Sean (The Real OC) O'Connell in a wild slugfest that saw both men throw and absorb big hits.

The crowd was on its feet at the finale of a bruising fight that will surely take a toll on both men given their heads are not made out of concrete.

Bosse (12-2-0) came out throwing bombs but it was O'Connell who drove him backwards with punches and then floored him. Bosse, a former minor pro hockey tough guy, somehow got back up after absorbing a flurry of blows.

It was Bosse's turn in the second. He felled O'Connell (17-8-0) midway through the round but was unable to finish.

The two fighters exchanged a high-five between blows in the third round. A tired O'Connell, his face bloodied, was at the wrong end of several spinning back fists but kept punching back.

Both fighters won a $50,000 bonus for fight of the night.

Scotland's Joanne (JoJo) Calderwood looked impressive in stopping Valerie (Trouble) Letourneau at 2:51 of the third round of a hard-nosed one-off women's flyweight bout at 125 pounds.

Calderwood (11-1-0) knocked Letourneau down with a spinning back fist in the first round and followed with a flurry of punches but Letourneau (8-5-0) somehow survived.

The Scottish fighter hurt her again in the third with a series of hard kicks to the body. A kick to the solar plexus hastened a confusing end with Letourneau turning away in pain and Calderwood swarming her before the fight was stopped.

Letourneau, a Montreal native who trains in Florida, was ranked fifth among strawweight contenders while Calderwood, who held her training camp at Montreal's Tristar Gym, was No. 12.

It was Letourneau's first fight since losing a five-round decision in November to strawweight (125-pound) champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

Montreal lightweight Olivier (The Quebec Kid) Aubin-Mercier used his ground game to combat the striking of France's Thibault Gouti, winning by rear-naked choke at 2:28 of the third round.

Aubin-Mercier (9-2-0) ate some strikes before getting Gouti down in the first round. The Frenchman eventually reversed the position and finished the round with some big blows. Gouti (11-2-0) was taken down again in the second and in the third when he was unable to fight off Aubin-Mercier's submission.

Canadians went 4-1 on the undercard with victories for Toronto light-heavyweight Misha Cirkunov, Toronto middleweight Elias (The Spartan) Theodorou, Charlottetown lightweight Jason Saggo and strawweight Randa (Quiet Storm) Markos of Windsor, Ont.

Cirkunov (12-2) added to his growing reputation with a third-round submission of hard-throwing Moldovan Ion Cutelaba. He has yet to go the distance in winning three UFC fights.

The show was the UFC's first in Ottawa and 20th in Canada. It was steamy inside the arena with the sweaty crowd chanting "We want AC" at one point.

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