UFC 276: Israel Adesanya Successfully Defends Title against Cannonier
Nigerian fighter Israel Adesanya successfully defended his middleweight title at UFC 276, beating Jared Cannonier on Sunday Morning by a unanimous decision at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, USA.
Ahead of the UFC 276 main event, Adesanya made quite a stir with an entrance inspired by WWE legend The Undertaker.
The Last Stylebender’s gameplan revolved around working the jab, feinting and landing leg kicks. It wasn’t pretty and left the crowd frustrated but it was effective in taking out a powerhouse striker in Cannonier.
The fight showcased Adesanya’s technical skills and the ability of those skills to nullify the brute force approach of Cannonier.
Often Cannonier was left reaching for counter shots after Adesanya had already landed one or two strikes and moved well out of striking range.
Cannonier also occasionally attempted to score a takedown rather than settle for a clinch against the cage, but Adesanya was able to remain on his feet throughout the contest, continuing to show off an evolution of his wrestling skills, or at least the ability to nullify the wrestling of his opponent.
Ultimately, Adesanya held off the challenger to pull off the well-deserved unanimous decision victory (49–46, 49–46, 50–45) to retain his title after five rounds. After the fight, Adesanya was asked what would be the next step in his career, having already cleared out almost every top contender at 185 pounds.
There’s only one man @Stylebender wants next – and that’s Alex Pereira 😤 #UFC276 pic.twitter.com/iFNbXt7hdE
— UFC (@ufc) July 3, 2022
Pereira who has beaten Adesanya in kickboxing matches on multiple occasions was in action a few hours before the Nigerian got into the octagon and he got a first-round knockout over Sean Strickland. It would definitely be a delight for Martial Arts fans to see Adesanya and Pereira settling old scores.
The Nigerian fighter’s latest win improves his overall record to 23 victories and just one career defeat. Though Cannonier came on strong and determined throughout the fight, he could not get past the Nigerian’s striking and takedown defence.
Adesanya has now improved to 12-0 in the middleweight division, which is the second-longest streak in UFC behind Anderson Silva (13-0).
CN/UFC.
