After sharing Octagon with Jared Cannonier and Marvin Vettori, Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker impressed with their “Fight of the Night” show at UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Artillery last Saturday. After being beaten early on, Killa Gorilla faced the Italian dream over the next four rounds which left Vittori bloody and battered. Canonier swept the judges’ scorecards, defeating Vettori via unanimous decision in one of the most historic performances in the Octagon.
Robert Whitaker stunned Jared Cannonier
At the end of the event, it was revealed that Jared Cannonier had etched his name in history by setting the record for most strikes landed in a single middleweight fight in the UFC at 241, according to official UFC stats. As expected, fans and fighters alike, including one of his former opponents in Robert Whitaker, were impressed with his performance.
“I picked Canonier to win this fight, didn’t I? I never imagined seeing a Canonair pressure fighter, who would build up and fill that void,” Whittaker said on ESPN’s UFC Fight Night: Vittori vs. Cannonier post-fight. [against Vettori]. I saw during the fight, Kanonair was holding Marvin’s hand a lot because he was so close.
Whitaker continued, “I didn’t choose to go out that way, but it obviously worked out in a big way.”
Whitaker praises Marvin Vettori’s tenacity
Besides Cannonier’s historic performance, another story that emerged from his last fight night in the UFC was Vettori’s tenacity. Throughout his reign in the UFC, the Italian has earned a reputation as one of the toughest fighters to finish.
Names like Israel Adesanya, Paulo Costa, Robert Whittaker and now Cannonier have tried to get Vittori out of the Octagon, but to no avail.
“Hats off to both men,” said Whittaker. “That fight was absolutely amazing. One of the best middleweight fights I’ve seen in a long time. Vittori, what do you have to do to bring him down? I tried my best, a lot of people did their best, and now Cannonier gives him a five [rounds] record success. It is made of something else. »
Israel Adesanya also responded with a record victory
Not only was Whitaker, UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya had a very short reaction to the fight between his former opponents.
Jared Canonier talks about his next options
Now on a winning streak, Jared Cannonier says he has two options to consider for his next fight. Either he wants another championship opportunity against Israel Adesanya or another potential No. 1 contender with someone ranked ahead of him.
Assuming he moves Marvin Vettori up the selection order in the update, Cannonier will finish third behind Robert Whitaker, Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya. “Po Atan” was eliminated because he left the division, leaving out “Reaper” and “Last Stylebender”. Whitaker is currently scheduled to face his #1 challenger against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 290, with the winner expected to take the next shot at Adesanya.
Unsure of where he’s going to take him at the moment, Cannonier is hoping his name is among the next options the UFC may pursue for Israel Adesanya.
“The way I see the near future is Robert is going to fight Dricos, and I know Israel wants to fight Dricos so badly, but I feel for my performance, for the guys who make that decision, I’m sure.” Canonier said in a statement. His press conference after the fight.
“I don’t care what it may or may not be,” Cannonier continued. “I will just focus on the next fight. I go back to the gym and start improving myself again, improving my skills and worrying about the next fight.”
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About the author
Christine King
Kristen King writes about Bloody Elbow. She’s been covering combat sports since 2016, debuting with outlets like FanSided, MyMMANews, and MMA-Prospects. She joined the BE staff in 2020, covering a mix of news, events, and injuries. During her tenure with BE, Kristen created “Fright of the Night,” a series highlighting some of the worst injuries in sports.
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