Israel Adesanya dismantled Jared Cannonier for 5 rounds to retain his middleweight title at the main event of UFC 276


Israel Adesanya dismantled Jared Cannonier for 5 rounds to retain his middleweight title at the main event of UFC 276

Israel Adesanya vs Jared Cannonier at UFC 276

The main event of UFC 276 was headlined by the middleweight contest between the champion, Israel Adesanya (22-1 MMA, 11-1 UFC), and the number one contender, Jared Cannonier (15-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC.) Adesanya came in undefeated at the middleweight division, and he as looking to add another ruby to his belt.

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Jared’s journey from heavyweight to middleweight has been inspirational, and he wanted to fulfill his life long dream of becoming an undisputed champion by taking care of business tonight.

Round 1 – Jared knew Izzy would attack his legs, and he was keeping an eye on those leg kicks. Adesanya started measuring his opponent out, and without missing a beat he started landing some good kicks on his opponents. Jared was biting on the feints, and Adesanya was able to capitalize on his mistakes. He started opening up with his punches, and a good counter shot from Jared caught Adesanya’s attention. Israel controlled the octagon for most of the round, and he finished strong.

Round 2 – Adesanya started pushing pressure on his opponent, and just as the punches were landing Jared protested for an eye poke, the referee didn’t see it and he asked them to continue, Izzy started getting reads on his opponent, and he was landing more and more punches. Jared was looking to hit him with some counter punches, but Adesanya was getting the better of every exchange. Another eye poke temporarily halted the action, but Jared came in and finished the round.

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Israel Adesanya puts up a striking masterclass to get the better of Jared Cannonier at UFC 276

Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier
Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier

Round 3 – The narrative of the round remained pretty much the same, but just as Jared was getting outclassed on the feet he started mixing up his wrestling. He grabbed onto a single but Adesanya got to the octagon, and defended well. He started landing punches from the outside, and Jared landed a big hand that forced a clinch from his opponent, Jared kept him pressed against the cage and finished the round there.

Round 4 – Adesanya was cruising away to another title defense, but Jared came out more aggressive trying to wrestle trying to get anything going in the fight. Adesanya kept on attacking him from the outside, Jared started closing the distance, and he started engaging those clinch. Even though he wasn’t getting any takedown, he was landing some small shots that got his opponent’s attention.

Round 5 – Jared knew he had to get a finish, but Adesanya was fighting way too smart to let his opponent get even close. Jared started swinging big and Adesanya was comfortably moving out from the way of his attacks. The only place where Jared was winning this fight was during the clinch, and he looked to capitalize on it, Adesanya once again defended well, and finished the round strong.

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Also read – “You made no one look easy ,” Israel Adesanya verbally tarnishes Jared Cannonier’s last fights ahead of their clash