Cannonier earns close split-decision win
The judges have it 49–46 for Cannonier, 49–46 for Strickland, and 49–46 for Cannonier. I had it even closer to the Cannoneer. A tough win for Jared Cannonier.
Cannonier v. Strickland; round 5
Strickland’s team prays for an overdose. Cannonier’s team wants the knockout shot. last five minutes. here is my. Strickland hits a power combination. Body kick from the Cannoneer Connect. Strickland connects with a big right hand behind the ear to drive Cannonier back. Cannonier fights forward and lands before Strickland can string together a combo. Crunching overhand right connects for Cannonier. three minutes. Strickland with a hard right into traffic but Cannonier lands two in return. Big right lands for Cannonier but Strickland comes back with a one-two combo. Two minutes. Left jab goes inside for Cannonier. Strickland’s nose is bleeding now. Lunge left hand finds its mark for Cannonier. Last Minute. Counter shots from Strickland. Big right hand from Cannonier. Strickland with a pair of kicks that grazes Cannonier. Strickland let go of his hands a bit early in the round, but played coolly the rest of the way. Cannonier showed little more readiness. It could go either way. Let’s see how the judges score it. (10-9 Gunner, 48-47 Gunner)
Cannonier v. Strickland; round 4
Strickland wraps a hard right hand around Cannonier’s guard. Very close fight so far. Right-left combo from Strickland as well. Strickland hindered Cannonier’s advance with a hard right hand for a second. The one-two combo is as follows. A rare body kick lands for Strickland in this fight. Within a minute Cannonier touches Strickland with some right hands as he follows through. Cannonier misses with a right hand but connects on a left hook. It was a powerful shot. Cannonier had last-minute possession but Strickland won the round behind jabs in the first frame. (10-9 Strickland, 38-38)
Cannonier v. Strickland; round 3
Cannonier digs the body with a jab. But Strickland continued to jab him in the face. It looks like Cannonier is waiting to unload on Strickland, but can’t afford to eat so many jabs in the process. Cannonier finds success with a leg kick and follows it up with a lunging punch. Combo from the Forward-Fighting Cannoneer and another combo. Two minutes left as we are seeing an increase in aggression, especially from Cannonier. Strickland is now opening up with more offense than just that jab. Three jabs from Strickland. The cannoneer digs up the body a couple of times. Another close round that could be argued either way. On the one hand, Strickland was consistent with crisp jabs. Cannonier, on the other hand, landed more crucial power shots. Slight edge to that. (10-9 Gunner, 29-28 Cannon)
Cannonier v. Strickland; Second Round
The cannoneer lets loose with his hands and he joins in on the back end of a couple of tries. Meanwhile, Strickland is beginning to find a consistent home (Cannonier’s face) with his jab. Every hit is splitting the cannoneer’s guard as well. Cannonier hisses and lands with a right hand. Big leg kick from Cannonier too. One-two from the cannoneer land. Strickland with several more jabs and he continues to frustrate Cannonier with his subtle movements to get out of harm’s way. Strickland finally comes forward with a multiple punch combination. Tough shot from Cannonier during the waning seconds. (10-9 Strickland, 19-19)
Jared Cannonier vs. Sean Strickland; round 1
Cannonier immediately hits a leg kick. Strickland splits Cannonier’s guard with a jab seconds later, before Cannonier returned the favor. Head kick from Cannonier and he comes back to kick Strickland’s leg. Right hand grazes Strickland’s face. Strickland continues well afterwards, avoiding any heavy damage. Strickland with an early takedown. Now, he has Cannonier pressed against the Octagon face first. Cannonier takes out Strickland’s lead leg and then connects on a jab. Right cross from Strickland sneaks in. A competitive first round and one that is tough to call. Slight edge to the Cannonier on my scorecard. (10-9 Cannon)
main event time
Jared Cannonier (15-6) and Sean Strickland (25-4) each look to rebound from next loss. We are just moments away from the last UFC fight of 2022!
Tsarukyan relies on wrestling to earn unanimous decision
All three judges scored it 30–27 in favor of Zarukyan, who tallied seven takedowns and 9:25 of control time. A dominant performance from Tsarukyan that broke Ismagulov’s five-fight win streak.
Tsarukyan says he wants a rematch with Islam Makhachev next. Zarukyan took the April 2019 fight on short notice and was crowned Lightweight World Champion this October before dropping a unanimous decision to Makhachev.
highly technical battle so far
Tsarukyan owns a slight edge in critical strikes, but dominates with six seconds to takedown and subsequent control time, 6:28. Third and final round next.
co-main event on deck
Arman Sarukyan vs. Damir Ismagulov is upon us. Ismagulov is looking for his sixth straight win in the UFC. Meanwhile, Zarukyan is looking to bounce back from a loss to Mateusz Gamerot in June.
Albazi opens with a right uppercut to earn a third-round TKO
Albazzi completely obliterated Costa with a vicious right uppercut that hurt and exploded on the Brazilian fighter’s chin.
He added some ground and pound for good measure. Albazzi is now 4-0 in the UFC.
Albazzi drops Costa to second
Albazzi split Costa’s guard and dropped him early in the second round with a bad right hand. He then controls and logs the rest of the time. Costa needed a knockout in the third to win.
flyweight walkout
Amir Albazzi vs Alessandro Costa is underway.
Caceres sets up head kick TKO brilliantly
In a word – fantastic. Caceres throws a looping left hook as a decoy, misses with the shot, but immediately lands a head kick with his left foot. What a balance! The head kick landed again on Erosa’s head as he fell to the ground. Caceres attacked some ground and pound, but honestly, it didn’t need it to be the winner.
Erosa rose and fell back on the canvas in horror.
Alex Caceres vs Julian Erosa is now underway
Let’s see how it turns out.
Usman, Gaethje, Burns react to Dober knockout
WOW 🤩 Great fight and great finish from Drew Dober! Respect to Bob Greene! #UFCVegas66
— Gilbert Burns Durinho (@GilbertDurinho) December 18, 2022
UFC 283 is set to take place on January 21
This will pit Glover Teixeira against Jamahl Hill in the main event, with Daveson Figueredo vs. Brandon Moreno as the 4th co-feature.
What a KO from Dobar!
Dober turned the tables on this fight in an instant, knocking Green out cold in the second round with a crunching left hook to the jaw.
Going forward, Green should play a true guard and not stick his hands in style.
Still, amazing knockout shot from Dober, who will ride a three-fight winning streak into 2023. And a historic knockout at that!
bobby green on fire
The green color is completely scattering the light. He landed 50 critical strikes in the first round, leaving Dober red in the face. During some sequences, Green caught Dober coming in and took him to his knees with a powerful shot. Even more demoralizing, Green had his hands down throughout the first round and Dober still could not catch him with a few heads. Plus, Green talked to him the whole time.
Lightweight on Deck
Next up on UFC Fight Night: Drew Dober taking on Bobby Green. Dobar would be looking to extend his winning streak to three.
