What's a cowboy to do when he gets knocked off his horse? Why, get up, get back on, and start riding again, of course.

Lightweight "Cowboy" Donald Cerrone lost his last fight to Nate Diaz, putting a halt to his six-fight win streak. But Cerrone responded to the loss in fine form on Tuesday night, controlling the action from bell to bell in his UFC on Fuel TV 3 victory over Jeremy Stephens. All three judges scored the bout 30-27 for the unanimous decision.

"It feels good coming off my last loss," said Cerrone, "There are some things I've been working on, thanks to [trainer] Greg Jackson."

Cerrone, a former kickboxer, simply dominated Stephens from the outset, mixing up a wide variety of strikes and pelting him with leg kicks. By the end of round two, Stephens had a bloody nose and his left eye was all but swollen shut.

The Colorado Springs native improved to 18-4 (1 no-contest), as he looks to climb his way back up the lightweight ranks. Stephens (20-8), who has been with the UFC since 2007, has dropped his past two.

After the bout, Cerrone credited his opponent and said he wants to fight in his home state at UFC 150 in Denver on August 11.

"That man did what he said he was going to do," said Cerrone. "I want to get on that Denver card. That's my hometown fight, I don't care if its Diaz or whoever, I want to be on that card."