Jared Cannonier had to battle back from being dropped a couple of times by Gregory Rodrigues tonight at UFC Fight Night 251, but as the rounds went on he looked to have more left in the tank and was able to turn the screw with hard-hitting strikes of his own, leading to a TKO Finish early in the fourth round.
Round One
The middleweight main event is underway in Las Vegas!
Leg kick for Cannonier. Glancing calf kick from Rodrigues. Inside calf kick from Cannonier. Both trade hard kicks.
Rodrigues fires off two hard straights. Cannonier with one of his own now. Calf kick from Rodrigues. Now one from Cannonier.
Right hands from Rodrigues and drops Cannonier with another. Cannonier straight back up and Rodrigues thinking about a choke, but doesn’t go for it.
Rodrigues loses his balance momentarily and Cannonier uses that to clinch up against the cage. Not too much happening and then back to striking range.
Rodrigues aggressive as he stalks Cannonier. Cannonier bursts forward with a flurry. Single-leg takedown from Rodrigues, but Cannonier scrambles over to the cage and stands.
Leg kick for Cannonier and a hard punch from Rodrigues that Cannonier flinches from. Rodrigues showing no fear and throwing with big power. He goes into the clinch and lands a few punches to the body.
Cannonier lands, but then Rodrigues blasts him with a right hand that drops him. Cannonier able to get back up under fire and presses Rodrigues into the cage. Cannonier goes for a takedown and lands it, but Rodrigues gets straight back up against the cage.
Cannonier with a few knees to the thigh as he remains clinched up.
Round Two
Grazing punches from Rodrigues. Cannonier presses forward but not quite finding the mark. He lands a punch to teh body. Now a low kick.
Straight lands for Cannonier and Rodrigues doesn’t quite connect on the counters. High kick attempt from Cannonier doesn’t land. He punches to the body as Rodrigues misses a strike.
Cannonier punches and drives into the clinch against the cage. Rodrigues punches back out of that.
Movement from Rodrigues and then lands a nice jab. Calf kick. Jab for Cannonier. Jab again for Rodrigues. Now a nice series of straight punches for him. Cannonier connects on a punch. Jab for Rodrigues. Low kick for Cannonier.
Leg kick for Robocop. Rodrigues lands a punch that knocked Cannonier off-balance for a moment. Body kick for Rodrigues. Solid inside calf kick from Cannonier. Nice punch from Rodrigues.
Kick from Rodrigues landed as Cannonier was throwing a knee and knocked him off-balance to the mat for a moment, but he pops straight back up and drives into the clinch against the cage.
Back to striking range. Cannonier has done a lot of the pressing forward this round, in direct contrast to the previous five minutes as Robocop’s aggression tapers down significantly. He goes back into the clinch for a moment, then ends the round back at striking range.
Round Three
Hard left from Rodrigues. He lands a left and a right now. Low kick for Cannonier. High kick attempt from Rodrigues. Inside low kick from Cannonier.
Body kick for Rodrigues. Outside calf kick for Cannonier. Right hand from Rodrigues. Cannonier lets his hands go. jab for Rodrigues.
Rodrigues with a couple of punches to the body. Swings and misses from Cannonier. Inside leg kick from Cannonier. Jab for him. Jab for Rodrigues and Cannonier firing off his too. Right hand stick from Cannonier.
Jabs for Cannonier. One-two from Rodrigues. Good right hand for Rodrigues. He lands another. Hard straight punches from Rodrigues. Cannonier tries for a takedown bbut it doesn’t pay off. Rodrigues winging punches.
Rodrigues thinks about a single-leg then just clinches. Back to striking. A few hard punches land for Rodrigues but he does look to be tiring. Cannonier still firing back too.
Rodrigues clinches up but Cannonier blasts him with an elbow and Robocop goes down. Cannonier gets on top and drops down hard ground-and-pound late in the round, leaving his opponent increasingly bloodied.
Round Four
Cannonier drives forward with hard punches. He lands hard to the head with hooks and rips to the body. Back to the head he goes and Rodrigues wilts under the pressure, sliding down to the canvas against the cage as the ref moves in to end the fight – big TKO win for Cannonier at 0.21mins of the fourth round.
