Israel Adesanya retained his middleweight title with a sweeping victory over Jared Cannonier at UFC 276.
The defending champion dominated all five rounds of the main event as he cruised to a fourth title defence. But the Las Vegas crowd didn’t share the enthusiasm as they booed the fight all through before all three judges handed Israel victory by margins of four and five rounds.
Reflecting on the game, Israel remarked about his opponent: “He had an excellent gameplan; it was really hard to get my follow-ups going, my second phase going.” The Nigerian fighter proceeded to call out Alex Pereira who had defeated him twice, albeit in the kickboxing ranks. “You know who’s next. The first time, I told you, was an error on my part. Next time I put you on skates, you’re going to be frozen.”
Adesanya pulled off a theatrical entrance as he carried an urn to the cage at the start of the second round, in an attempt to pay homage to WWE legend The Undertaker. He led with a kick-heavy approach in the opening stages and intensified the pace in the second round, switching stances to land his ram-rod jab. He switched to punches as the fight continued, and soon he poked his opponent in the eye.
Even with Cannonier’s right eye swollen, Adesanya remained ruthless and adopted more aggressive approaches. He snapped back Cannonier’s head with a perfect jab at the start of the fourth session as he continued his dominance.
Cannonier’s corner told him he was down three rounds to one going into the final stoppage, which meant that the American needed a stoppage to win the title. But Adesanya was unwavering and coasted through the last five minutes, much to the displeasure of the 19,000 fans gathered in the T-Mobile Arena before the fight ended.
