Israel Adesanya comfortably cruised to a unanimous decision victory over Jared Cannonier tonight at UFC 276 without ever really having to break much of a sweat.
Round One:
The main event middleweight title fight is underway in Las Vegas!
Glancing leg kick for Cannonier. Now a more solid connection from Adesanya on his leg kick.
Missed high kick from Adesanya. Leg kick for Adesanya. Body punch from Cannonier. Leg kick for Cannonier and one in response from Adesanya.
Cannonier targets the body again with a punch. Now a front kick to the midsection from him. Straight left from Adesanya. Now a solid low kick.
Cannonier presses forward. Adesanya sends a kick off his lead arm. Jab for Adesanya. leg kick from Cannonier.
Glancing leg kick for Adesanya and then a solid body kick. Foot jab to the body from Adesanya. Brief flurry of punches and then Adesanya connects with the jab again.
Adesanya feels out with a long jab and throws the right hand behind it. Body kick for the champ. Inside leg kick from Cannonier.
Adesanya uses head movement to steer clear of a big punch from the challenger. Leg kick from Adesanya.
Body punch for Cannonier. He goes their again. leg kick from Cannonier. Another one lands and Adesanya just whiffs over the ducking Cannonier with a head kick attempt.
leg kick for Adesanya. Straight right gets through for Adesanya and that’s the final action of the round.
Round Two:
Jab for Adesanya. Jab for Cannonier as Adesanya was applying pressure. Head kick attempt from Adesanya. Body kick from Cannonier.
Inside leg kick for Cannonier and an outside one in response from Adesanya. Adesanya feeling out with the jab. Cannonier goes for a leg kick, but Adesanya’s kick lands first and knocks him off-balance for a moment.
Body kick from Adesanya. Front kick to the body from the champ. Leg kick for Adesanya and Cannonier almost landed a punch on the counter.
Jab for Cannonier. Head kick attempt from Cannonier is blocked. Calf kick for Adesanya. Body kick for Cannonier.
Body punch for Adesanya. Right hand gets through for him. He tries to land a hard one-two but without success.
Cannonier presses forward but Adesanya just steps aside. Jab for Cannonier. Low leg kick for Adesanya. Body punch from Adesanya and narrowly avoids a counter.
Cannonier goes to the body with a punch. Right hand gets through for Adesanya. Eyepoke from Adesanya forces a stoppage for Cannonier to recover. He seems to be ok though.
Body kick from Adesanya. He lands another that knocks Cannonier slightly off-balance. A couple of solid leg kicks from Cannonier.
Adesanya corralling Cannonier around the Octagon now as he looks for big strikes, but doesn’t get anything too meaningful off in the final few seconds of the round.
Round Three:
Leg kick lands for Adesanya. He tries for a kick upstairs that doesn’t land. Cannonier landing a nice counter now.
Leg kick for Cannonier. He lands another. Leg kick for Adesanya. Jab from Adesanya and Cannonier tries to clinch up, but Adesanya shrugs him aside.
Solid jab lands for Adesanya. Now a leg kick. Missed hook from Cannonier. He does land to the body though.
Big swings from Cannonier but doesn’t connect. He fakes a takedown and then comes upstairs with a short flurry. Now he presses Adesanya into the cage. He’s trying to land punches from here, but Adesanya is able to get away.
Head kick attempt from Adesanya and now a couple of clean punches land. Spinning backfist attempt from Cannonier misses.
Right hand from Cannonier. jab for Adesanya. Cannonier just misses with a hook. Kick from Adesanya. Another body kick from Adesanya.
Cannonier with a right hand and then into the clinch, walking Adesanya up to the cage. A few knees strikes to the thigh from Cannonier. Adesanya boxes his ears briefly. More light knees from Cannonier. Final few seconds and Adesanya gets free and threatens with a nice knee upstairs.
Round Four:
Nice straight right from Adesanya. Glancing right hand from Cannonier. Solid jab for Adesanya. Now a front kick to the body. Calf kick for him now.
Cannonier backs Adesanya up to the cage and he moves side to side and escapes. Hard kick from Adesanya.
Jab and a right hand from Adesanya. Now a body kick. Cannonier pressing forward with a flurry and a right hand does land in that sequence.
Leg kick for Adesanya. Body punch from Cannonier. Now a solid body kick for Cannonier. Adesanya steps in for punches, but Cannonier clinches up and pushes him to the cage. Adesanya nicely moves away.
Body punch for Adesanya. Glancing leg kick. Cannonier with a couple of right hands. He lands another as Adesanya moves away from the cage.
Nice calf kick from Cannonier. Now he punches his way into the clinch against the cage. He lands a nice elbow but not too much else so far as the action starts to stall a little.
Cannonier loads up on a punch, but Cannonier breaks away. Right hand for Adesanya.
Round Five:
Cannonier with a right hand. He whiffs on a loaded-up hook. Leg kick for Adesanya. A couple of light left hands for Adesanya. Body strikes for Cannonier.
Head kick attempt from Adesanya is blocked. Nice jab from Adesanya. lead elbow from Adesanya. left hand from Cannonier. He lands a low kick.
Reaching left hand from Adesanya but doesn’t connect with the right behind it. Light one-two for the champ and aborts on a spinning attack.
Cannonier into the clinch against the cage. Not much activity for him from here though despite knowing he likely needs a finish here.
Cannonier changing levels and trying for a single-leg, but Adesanya shakes that off and gets back to striking range.
Solid jab for Adesanya. Now Cannonier comes forward aggressively and lands a couple of solid punches, then goes back into the clinch against the cage.
Adesanya able to break free and threatens with a glancing head kick. Adesanya strikes again. Crowd booing in the final seconds and we’re headed to a decision.
Decision:
So not the most eventful fight here, with Adesanya fairly calmly controlling the stand-up action without ever really having to step up the gears, and so he emerges with a unanimous decision (49-46 x2, 50-45).
His win and his former kickboxing rival Alex Pereira’s KO victory over Sean Strickland earlier in the evening would now appear to set up a showdown between the two high-level strikers, with Adesanya confirming in his post-fight interview that it’s the fight he wants.
