Sean Strickland and Jared Cannonier are set to face off in an exciting main event on October 13th
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Sean Strickland x Jared Cannonier
Jared Cannonier and Sean Strickland will have the opportunity to redeem themselves from their most recent showing, to maintain their legitimacy at middleweight. Both fighters are in talks to feature on an October 15 UFC fight night card.
Both Cannonier and Strickland fought at UFC 276, where both of them came up short against their opposition. Cannonier was squared off against current champion Israel Adesanya, where the Killer Gorilla was kept at range and point stricken down to a victory.
Strickland on the other hand was squared off against Israel Adesanya’s next opponent and former kickboxing rival, Alex Pereira. A severe jump in MMA competition for Pereira, many expected Sean to introduce Alex to the ground aspect of MMA, instead, he chose to kickbox with a two-division kickboxing champion. Suffice to say it did not end well with Strickland being KOed in the very first round.
Sean Strickland looks to bounce back from UFC 276 loss against Jared Cannonier
Now the fighters have a chance to get back into title contention, Strickland more so than Cannonier. The disappointing aspect in Cannonier’s title fight was that despite the champion having been wanting to face him for a long time, the fight ended up being a letdown. While no one gave him a real chance, fans expected Jared to perform in his usual style of precise bursts of flurries that can put the best strikers on the back foot.
Instead, Cannonier hesitated for the majority of the fight and we ended with an uneventful main event. Strickland on the other hand had an entertaining bout, mostly because of the finish, but foolishly threw away his built-up win streak in the division hence costing him a shot at the title.
Cannonier is 38 as of now and is perhaps in the final stages of his career, a win over Strickland can put him just one more fight away from fighting for the title. Strickland can expect an immediate title shot if he wins and Izzy manages to keep his belt against Alex. However, if Alex were to be the champion, it’s doubtful how excited the UFC would be to make that fight.
Head to head the two have a combined record of 40-10. Strickland is primarily a striker but has amazing skills on the ground as attested by many in the division. However, Cannonier is a tough man to keep down, divisional wrestlers like Derek Brunson and Robert Whittaker found it difficult to hold him to the ground despite being compromised. It is to be seen how Strickland will perform in these circumstances.
Apart from these, Brandon Royval, Askar Askarov and Angela Hill are also rumored to be featured on the card.
How do you see the fight playing out? Who else at middleweight do you feel deserves to jump back into title contention?
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Jerin Mathew
(713 Articles Published)