A hard-fought victory to end the year for the veteran.
Sean Strickland served a buffet of jabs to Jared Cannonier over the course of five rounds.
But Cannonier's powerful strikes proved to cause more significant damage as he eked out a split-decision victory in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday. Judges at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas scored it 49-46 Cannonier, 49-46 Strickland and 49-46 Cannonier to give him the win.
"I thought I had it 3-2," Cannonier said in the Octagon following his victory. "I did a little bit more damage. We saw the blood on his face."
A split decision to close the year!
Jared Cannonier ending 2022 with a big win on his resume #UFCVegas66 pic.twitter.com/W4vk6oZS3v
Though Cannonier struggled with Strickland's crisp jab, he did have success in sequences that had him fire a leg kick and then lunge forward with a punch upstairs.
"It was definitely one of the answers to his jab, which is one of his biggest weapons," added Cannonier about his leg kicks to offset Strickland's weapon of choice. "One of the answers was working for us."
Cannonier really began to open up with his power punches during the third round, landing hard shots. With the bout tied on DAZN's scorecard entering the fifth round, Cannonier showed more urgency during the final five minutes to get the slight nod.
After the fight, Cannonier, who entered the night as the third-ranked middleweight, said that he'd like to fight anyone ranked above him toward a title shot.
"I would definitely like another title shot — sooner rather than later."
Here's how the entire UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland event went.
All three judges score it 30-27 in favor of Tsarukyan, who tallied seven takedowns and 9:25 of control time. A dominant display from Tsarukyan who snaps Ismagulov's five-fight win streak.
Dominant from start to finish @ArmanUFC takes home the UD victory😤 #UFCVegas66 pic.twitter.com/tjv8mT5v9s
Tsarukyan says he wants a rematch with Islam Makhachev next. Tsarukyan took the April 2019 fight on short notice before dropping a unanimous decision to Makhachev who was crowned the lightweight world champion this past October.
Arman Tsarukyan vs. Damir Ismagulov is upon us. Ismagulov looks for his sixth consecutive victory in the UFC. Meanwhile, Tsarukyan tries to bounce back from a June loss to Mateusz Gamrot.
Albazi absolutely obliterated Costa with a vicious right uppercut that he wound up and detonated onto the unsuspecting Brazilian fighter's chin.
That @AmirAlbazi uppercut tho 🤌 #UFCVegas66 pic.twitter.com/zA6mD4BhkT
He added some ground and pound for good measure. Albazi is now 4-0 in the UFC.
In a word — brilliant. Caceres throws a looping left hook as sort of a decoy, missing with the shot, but immediately rifling a head kick with his left leg. What balance! The head kick ricocheted off Erosa's head as he crumbled to the ground. Caceres tacked on some ground and pound but honestly didn't need it to be crowned the winner.
BANG 💥 #UFCVegas66 pic.twitter.com/xmjqHBukPc
Erosa got up and fell back to the canvas in a scary sight.
3️⃣ finishes to start off the Main Card!!@BruceLeeroyGlow gets the job done in round 1👊 #UFCVegas66 pic.twitter.com/xNIwQbaqSe
Drew fricking Doberrrrrrrrr!!!! @DrewDober #UFCVegas65
@DrewDober is a bad mofo. Love getting rounds with him. 50k all day 💰 #UFCFightnight Great fight.
Wow 🤩 great fight and great finish from Drew Dober! Respect to Bob Green! #UFCVegas66
Dober turned the tables of this fight in an instant, knocking Green out cold with a crunching left hook across the jaw in the second round.
Sending 2022 off with a BANG 💥 #UFCVegas66 pic.twitter.com/VO56lIuTR5
Still, amazing KO shot from Dober, who will ride a three-fight winning streak into 2023. And a historical KO at that!
Drew Dober ties Dustin Poirier for most knockouts in UFC lightweight history with 8 👏 #UFCVegas66 pic.twitter.com/qJBtsnQJ3x
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