Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion Israel Adesanya defeated American Jared Cannonier in Las Vegas by unanimous decision on Saturday, July 2. The Nigerian, all in control, remains invincible in his division.
The “curse” of rapper Drake is no more. The singer had missed his last two big sports bets in mixed martial arts (MMA). Last March, he lost $250,000 betting on a victory for Jorge Masvidal against Colby Covington. And in May, Drake got it all wrong again by betting more than $400,000 on Justin Gaethje, who was swept away by Charles Oliveira. This time, the Canadian didn’t lose his money by betting a million dollars on Israel Adesanya.
Opposed to Jared Cannonier, Saturday July 2 in the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, in the metropolis of Las Vegas, the undisputed middleweight champion of the UFC, the most famous of the MMA leagues, did not tremble. Despite the power of his opponent who was still fighting at heavyweight a few years ago, Israel Adesanya has never been put in difficulty.
Cannonier without a solution against the champion
Benefiting, as often, from a better reach thanks to his 1.93m, “The Last Stylebender” controlled the five rounds disputed in the octagon against the American. Always as comfortable in striking, with his legs broken in kickboxing slapping on all parts of the body, Israel Adesanya delivered a very serious fight. Jared Cannonier quickly found himself faced with the same problem as the previous title contenders: how to falter the champion?
Jan Blachowicz had shown the way by using his struggle to tackle the Nigerian to the ground at the start of 2021. But the Pole had benefited from his heavier size and the fact that it was the first attempt by “Izzy” in the top category of light-heavyweight. At middleweight, on the other hand, the champion remains on top. This is what makes his domination: Israel Adesanya, very technical and concentrated, annihilates all the attempts of his opponents.
Revenge in the air against Alex Pereira?
Admittedly, this does not give very spectacular fights. The most critical will say that the Nigerian won again by unanimous decision: since winning the belt from Robert Whittaker in October 2019, he defended his title five times, including four wins by decision (and therefore one by knockout). But from another point of view, it clearly appears that no one is able, for the moment, to really disturb the boss of the division. However, fighters of different styles have tried it.
With 12 consecutive victories in the UFC at middleweight, still untouchable champion for almost three years, Israel Adesanya continues his clear domination. Is the category “cleaned up”? Maybe not, because earlier on Saturday night Brazilian Alex Pereira impressed by sweeping American Sean Strickland in the first round. He presents himself as a serious new contender for a title fight. And Israel Adesanya has a small score to settle with him: in kickboxing, he lost twice against Alex Pereira, first by unanimous decision in 2016, then by KO in 2017. The Nigerian may have the opportunity to take his revenge in MMA soon.