Jared Cannonier put his name in the middleweight record books with a five-round war against fellow one-title challenger Marvin Vettori.
Cannonier landed the most significant strikes in the history of the UFC’s 185-pound division en route to a unanimous decision victory in the main event of UFC Vegas 75, further bouncing back from a loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 276 this past July in his first championship opportunity by notching his second consecutive win. Cannonier officially landed 249 significant strikes, far and away overtaking the previous record of 186.
The judges scored it 49-45, 49-45, and 48-46 for “Killa Gorilla.”
Vettori hurt Cannonier badly with a big punch early in the first round and nearly got him out of there, but Cannonier was able to work through it and get to the second round. Things changed in the second when Cannonier hurt the ultra-tough Vettori with a big shot of his own, which led to “The Italian Dream” being in the most trouble he’s been in his career. Cannonier continued to pour it on for more than half the round, but Vettori — after eating nearly 70 significant strikes — fired back and got to the horn.
The action continued into the third round as both men continued to give everything they had. At the halfway mark of the round, Cannonier began to get momentum, battering a bloody Vettori. But Vettori continued to show his incredible grit and toughness as Cannonier teed off on him, finding a moment to land a hard elbow before getting to Cannonier’s back at the end of the round.
In the championship rounds, Cannonier continued to mix the martial arts well to keep Vettori off balance, however, Vettori, wearing a crimson mask, refused to back down, even landing a big head kick just before the fourth-round horn sounded.
The relentless pace continued into the fifth and final round, and as hard as Vettori battled, Cannonier continued to be one step ahead of him, stinging Vettori with a big shot before landing a takedown, brutal ground and pound, and then continuing to add to his massive striking totals as the fight got back to the feet.
With the victory, Cannonier is 4-1 over his last five octagon appearances, while Vettori has now dropped three of his past five.
