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Jared Cannonier stays in title competition following a detailed name in opposition to Sean Strickland at UFC Fight Night on Saturday. Cannonier and Strickland basically fought strike-for-strike in a matchup that had judges deeply conflicted on the outcomes of every spherical.
Cannonier, admittedly tentative in current fights, tried to take the battle to Strickland early, however his opponent was elusive. Determining the winner in Rounds 1 and a pair of primarily trusted how a lot judges weighed Cannonier’s energy leg kicks in opposition to Strickland’s jab. Most of the fighters’ blitzes had been ineffective, Cannonier and Strickland did handle to land extra energy punches in Round 2 than in Round 1.
Both fighters opened up with mixtures and energy strikes within the ultimate three rounds. Despite the elevated output, the amount and impression of strikes landed remained razor-thin. The battle’s aggressive nature was mirrored within the scorecards. The first choose scored the battle 49-46 for Cannonier, the second choose scored it 49-46 for Strickland. The ultimate choose additionally sided with Cannonier 49-46. UFC commentator Brendan Fitzgerald revealed post-fight that no spherical was scored unanimously in favor of both fighter.
Cannonier improved to 16-6, bouncing again from a failed bid for the UFC middleweight championship in opposition to Israel Adesanya in July. Cannonier has defeated Strickland, Derek Brunson, Kelvin Gastelum, Jack Hermansson, Anderson Silva and David Branch since shifting right down to middleweight. Strickland dropped to 25-5, dropping consecutive fights to Cannonier and UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira within the battle that preceded Pereira’s title win. Strickland had labored himself into title competition with six consecutive wins over the likes of Hermansson, Uriah Hall and Brendan Allen previous to his current setbacks.
Cannonier expressed his want to battle for one more world title in his post-fight interview. Cannonier seemingly has work left to do. He defended his No. 3 rating in opposition to Strickland, however Adesanya and Robert Whittaker stay forward of him within the pecking order at current.
