Jared Cannonier survived an early scare, however got here storming again to complete Gregory Rodrigues in spectacular vogue within the UFC Vegas 102 predominant occasion.
The struggle didn’t begin nice for Cannonier after he bought planted on the canvas twice within the opening spherical, however that large output seemingly zapped Rodrigues for the remainder of the struggle. In return, Cannonier simply stored coming after him till he scored a knockdown of his personal with a vicious elbow strike within the third spherical after which dished out much more of the identical within the fourth.
Lastly, with Rodrigues harm and backed up towards the cage, Cannonier unleashed an enormous barrage of punches to the pinnacle and physique that lastly ended the struggle. The stoppage got here at 21 seconds into the fourth spherical with Cannonier celebrating his newest predominant occasion win.
“I assume I used to be harm sufficient to get dropped on my ass a few occasions,” Cannonier stated in regards to the disagreeable begin to the struggle earlier than he finally got here again. “He was slinging huge ass pictures. I used to be in a position to climate the storm and preserve my composure in these powerful spot.
“I’d somewhat die on my toes than die on my again. Sure, expertise performs a reality, however I wish to lean on my group. My enhancements positively confirmed on this struggle.”
There was no feeling out course of for Rodrigues, who got here out firing like a cannon with exhausting, heavy punches and leg kicks that had been simply blasting away at Cannonier. Simply earlier than the 2 minute mark within the opening spherical, Rodrigues linked with an enormous proper hook that put Cannonier down on the canvas, though he was in a position to recuperate rapidly and get again to his toes.
Rodrigues constantly used his dimension benefit as he simply stored discovering a house for his huge, crazy punches earlier than a slick left tagged Cannonier and put him down briefly once more. Whereas he was absorbing a whole lot of punishment, Cannonier stored discovering a strategy to survive with hopes that Rodrigues would finally decelerate.
The technique began paying off as early because the second spherical with Cannonier abruptly shifting ahead because the aggressor and Rodrigues’ output was severely diminished. Cannonier was actually starting to tee off however Rodrigues nonetheless represented sufficient of a menace that the one-time middleweight title contender couldn’t throw warning to the wind.
The momentum shifted once more when Rodrigues lastly bought a second burst of vitality and he began coming after Cannonier once more. That backfired after Cannonier cracked him with a vicious elbow strike from contained in the clinch that dropped the Brazilian to the canvas.
Cannonier adopted up with some highly effective floor and pound and because the third spherical got here to an in depth, Rodrigues was wobbled badly as he went again to his nook.
When the struggle restarted, Cannonier acknowledged that the one-minute break wasn’t almost sufficient for Rodrigues to recuperate as a result of he got here out instantly searching for the end. Cannonier overwhelmed his opponent with a barrage of punches that backed Rodrigues up towards the cage with nowhere to go.
From there, Cannonier was simply searching for the kill shot, which got here after he delivered a punishing blow to the physique after which went proper again up high to the pinnacle as Rodrigues crumbled to the canvas. That was sufficient for the referee to swoop in and save Rodrigues from additional hurt as Cannonier earned the fourth-round stoppage, which bought him again on monitor after a pair of consecutive losses to fellow middleweight contenders Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho.
At 40, Cannonier is actually within the latter stage of his profession, however he’s nonetheless bought a complete lot of struggle left in him, and he’ll be a harmful out for any 185-pounder prepared to commerce bombs with him within the octagon as Rodrigues discovered Saturday evening.
