UFC Fight Night

Scorecards were all over the place for Cannonier vs. Strickland in the final UFC fight of 2022.

Strickland dropped to 25-5, losing consecutive fights to Cannonier and UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira in the fight that preceded Pereira's title win. Cannonier improved to 16-6, bouncing back from a failed bid for the UFC middleweight championship against Israel Adesanya in July. Determining the winner in Rounds 1 and 2 primarily depended on how much judges weighed Cannonier's power leg kicks against Strickland's jab.

Jared Cannonier and Sean Strickland will go head-to-head in tonight's UFC Fight Night 216 main event in Las Vegas. It's a middleweight matchup between two.

Cannonier presents too much power and the stylist matchup of this fight could not favor him any more than it does here, so I am backing him here, and given I believe he needs to win early to mitigate the cardio differential between the two, I am picking him by KO. But, the reason why this fight is priced as a pick’em is if Strickland can avoid the power threat of Cannonier, particularly early in the fight, he will have the significant cardio advantage and should be able to pull away as the rounds transpire. In total, Cannonier is a dangerous fighter where only the most technically gifted have been able to beat him in the middleweight division, so, his opponent will need to show a clear separation in technical skill to beat the number 3 ranked middleweight contender. The opposing stances accompanied by Strickland being a heavy-pressure, upright fighter opens up ample opportunities for Cannonier to land counterstrikes with his hands, and once Strickland backs up, land the heavy left leg to the tall torso of Strickland. If Strickland continues this blatant disregard for himself in the octagon, Cannonier should be able to inflict the same power damage on him as Periera did given he has granite for fists and understands how to land power strikes the same way elite heavyweight contenders do. This lack of regard for safety in the octagon proved fatal his last time around with the now champion, Alex Pereira, as he wore too many calf strikes – an easy strike to land given Strickland strands extremely upright – and was hit with clean power shots to the head. Beyond having elite power in his hands, Cannonier has extremely dangerous kicks, particularly when he stands in his traditional southpaw stance as he can land his massive left leg kick to the body of his opponent. This lack of power intent with strikes is the polar opposite of how you would think Strickland fights, but the fact is he consistently gets in your face, leaves no room, and throws non-stop punches with the occasional clinch to further test the cardio of his opponent contrary to looking to land that one power shot. But, in this fight, intimidation and fear to stand against will not be present as it is simply not in the DNA of Sean Strickland as Sean truly loves violence. What is quite interesting is that while he puts on an in-your-face style of fighting with non-stop pressure and output to destroy his opponent, he throws little to no power shots. 2022 has been the year for it, with Leon and Pereira, but expecting a guy to lose a fight until a sudden moment just to have him land the perfect fight ending shot is not a predictable method of handicapping. Given he often has the edge in striking power, speed, and ability, opponents have tried to get him down to the mat and to neutralize his best assets.

Cannonier is (15-6) and is ranked third in the Middleweight division, while Strickland is 25-4 and ranked seventh. Storylines: Cannonier is the + ...

Sergey Morozov (-250) vs. Manel Kape (-250) vs. - Sean Strickland is the -125 betting favorite (Draftkings) He’s coming off a knockout loss to current champion Alex Pereira at UFC 276. Julian Marquez (-165) vs. Jake Matthews (-250) vs. Sean Strickland (-110) vs.

The UFC's final fight of 2022 came down to the scorecards on Saturday, as former middleweight title challenger Jared Cannonier defeated Sean Strickland via ...

Cannonier lost four of five rounds to Adesanya and would have been facing a potentially lengthy road back to a title, however Adesanya suffered an upset knockout loss to [Alex Pereira](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/4705658/alex-pereira) last month at UFC 281. He was able to maintain a good distance and not just walk forward like a zombie." He never came close to a finish, but he did hurt Strickland with strikes along the fence in the fourth round. Cannonier also targeted the body and legs with kicks, which he felt was a strong deterrent for Strickland's notoriously accurate jab. "I thought I had it [three rounds to two]," Cannonier said. "I wouldn't say he was tricky, but he's got a very good eye for that distance," Cannonier said.

Jared Cannonier's performance was not the kind that inspires long-term hope in the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division, but it was enough ...

Dober (26-11, 12-7 UFC) [drew the curtain 2:45 into Round 2](/videos/highlightreels/UFC-Fight-Night-216-Highlight-Video-Drew-Dober-Decimates-Bobby-Green-19327). Oleksiejczuk got busy with his ground-and-pound, increasing the intensity of his punches and elbows with each passing second. Oleksiejczuk (18-5, 6-3 UFC) slammed the door 3:16 into Round 1, authoring his fastest finish in more than three years. A short-notice substitution for [Brandon Royval](/fighter/Brandon-Royval-83851), Costa (12-3, 0-1 UFC) bowed out 2:13 into Round 3. All three cageside judges scored it the same: 30-27 for Tsarukyan (19-3, 6-2 UFC), who bounced back from his June 25 defeat to [Mateusz Gamrot](/fighter/Mateusz-Gamrot-90605). Cannonier (16-6, 9-6 UFC) was effective with kicks to the lower extremities for much of the back-and-forth affair.

Check out what the UFC Fight Night 216 winners had to say backstage at Saturday's event.

If nothing else, MMA fans ended the competitive year with a prodigious haul. The UFC's final card of 2022 wasn't crammed full of high-profile stars but it ...

And given that he connected on 40 strikes to Dober's 17 in the first round, it was happening a lot. Vlismas was also 2-1 in the UFC after her own Contender Series stint and fared well early against McKenna with 17 significant strikes in an opening five minutes fought primarily at a distance. She finished 2022 with two straight victories after losing her first fight of the year by split decision to Elise Reed in March. "I have to credit my old trainer," said Caceres, who maintained his balance as he missed the punch and fired the kick in one motion. It was second straight loss after a six-fight win streak and his fifth in 17 fights in the UFC. "He is tougher than the guys in the top five. One of the answers that was working for us. Cannonier dropped a five-round decision to then-champ Israel Adesanya atop UFC 276 in July and Strickland hadn't fought since the same night when he was vaporized in barely more than half a round by Alex Pereira. I deserve a fight with someone in the top five. "(Kicking) was definitely one of the answers to his jab. Sal D'Amato was exactly the opposite, giving Strickland the first, second, fourth and fifth. He landed occasional volleys of power shots but was often stopped by Strickland's persistent left jab and subtle foot movement.