Isreal Adesanya overcame American Jared Cannonier by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 50-45) to retain his UFC middleweight title on Sunday.
Both fighters came into the bout with impressive records, but after five rounds, Isreal remained undefeated in the category and even had the time to call out a likely next opponent, Alex Pereira who shared a UFC 276 fight card.
Since his UFC debut in 2018, ‘The Last Stylebender’ has remained undefeated in the middleweight category.
How the fight happened
Round 1: Quite uneventful, both men taking time to size each other up and landing body shots.
Round 2: Cannonier takes the fight to Adesanya and forces him to back into the corner occasionally. The fight is temporarily stopped as Cannonier has to have his right eye checked. The round ends with Adesanya on the top landing a big body shot.
Round 3: Cannonier sends a left-right combination that fails to meet Adesanya. He tries to wrestle Adesanya to the ground unsuccessfully and both fighters exchange body shots. He tries again to wrestle Adesanya to the ground but fails. Cannonier coming closer to Adesanya gets a clinch and forces him into the corner. Cannonier tries digging his knees into Adesanya’s who manages to free himself and sends a head kick which brings the round to an end.
Round 4: Adesanya lands big left hands which tilts Cannonier’s head backward. Adesanya is making it extremely difficult for Cannonier to land effective punches. No takedown yet from either fighter. Both fighters get into a clinch but Adesanya frees himself. Cannonier shows more aggression and gets a clinch and both fighters exchange body and headshots. Cannonier sends a head kick which Adesanya avoids. The fourth round comes to an end. Cannonier’s corner urging him to take the fight to Adesanya as he is down by 3 rounds to 1.
Round 5: Final round underway. Cannonier rushes out of his corner and is checked by Adesanya. Both fighters get into a clinch and back into the corner. Cannonier dug into Adesanya’s knees. Cannonier attempts a takedown which fails and follows it up with a double jab. Adesanya replies with a head kick. The round ends.
Vanguard/Simeon Ugbodovon
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