On Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena, Israel Adesanya defeated Jared Cannonier by majority decision to retain his middleweight title.
The judges gave the contest scores of 49–46, 49–46, and 50–45.
Throughout the fight, Israel Adesanya’s better striking was clear to see. Adesanya kept Cannonier at a distance while tearing him apart with kicks and jabs to the body and legs. Cannonier didn’t land anything particularly noteworthy.
In total, Israel Adesanya out-struck Cannonier 163 to 141, including a 116 to 90 advantage in critical strikes. The third round was awarded to Cannonier by judges Derek Cleary and Junichiro Kamijo, but that is it. According to referee Sal D’Amato, Adesanya won all five rounds.
Adesanya was ranked third in the world by ESPN’s pound-for-pound rankings. He was ranked first at middleweight, followed by Cannonier at No. 3.
Alex Pereira, who defeated Sean Strickland on Saturday’s undercard, might be Adesanya’s next opponent. Pereira has defeated Adesanya twice in kickboxing, once by way of knockout.
Pereira criticized Adesanya for his performance in the post-fight press conference, calling it disappointing for the audience.
Adesanya (23-1) has a 12-0 record in the UFC at 185 pounds, where he is unbeaten. The New Zealander, who is of Nigerian descent, had just defeated Robert Whittaker by unanimous decision at UFC 271, back in February.
After unifying the championship with Whittaker in 2019, Adesanya, 32, has successfully defended it five times.
At UFC 259 in March 2021, Israel Adesanya lost to Jan Blachowicz due to weight while they were competing for the UFC light heavyweight title. Since that setback, “The Last Stylebender” has won three consecutive matches.
Adesanya is only the fourth UFC fighter to have won 12 matches in a single weight division.
Coming in, Cannonier (15-6) has won five of his previous six games and two in a row. The Arizonan was fresh off a knockout victory over Derek Brunson in the second round of UFC 271.
The 38-year-old Cannonier has defeated opponents in heavyweight, light heavyweight, and middleweight classes. Before Saturday, Whittaker was his only opponent at middleweight.
Vince McMahon, the chairman and CEO of WWE, as well as his daughter Stephanie, the interim CEO, and her husband, former WWE wrestler and current executive Paul “Triple H” Levesque, were there for the main event. The former NFL punter Pat McAfee and WWE CEO Nick Khan were also present in the cage.
They witnessed Adesanya’s exit in character as WWE legend The Undertaker, but they missed the most thrilling battle.
Cannonier struggled to get close enough to Adesanya for blows or takedowns because of Adesanya’s ability to keep her at a distance. In the third, fourth, and fifth rounds, Cannonier attempted clinch work and takedowns but had little to no success.
