5 Defining Moments: Jared Cannonier

Now months past the age of 40, Jared Cannonier remains an integral piece of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s middleweight plans.

The Dallas native will attempt to stand his ground against a divisional upstart when he puts Caio Borralho to the test in the UFC on ESPN 62 main event this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Cannonier has rattled off seven wins across his past 10 appearances. However, he finds himself on the rebound following a fourth-round technical knockout loss to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC on ESPN 57 in June. The six-time post-fight bonus winner has suffered back-to-back defeats only once in his career.

As Cannonier makes final preparations for his forthcoming clash with Borralho at 185 pounds, a look at five of the many moments that have come to define him:

1. Savage Truth

Jordan stopped the previously unbeaten MMA Lab export with punches in the first round of their UFC 182 heavyweight prelim on Jan. 3, 2015 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Cannonier succumbed to the blows 2:57 into round one, as the former Alaska Fighting Championship titleholder tasted defeat for the first time as a pro. Operation in the shadows of the Jon Jones-Daniel Cormier main event, the two men spent the entire bout trading on the feet. Jordan clipped the Arizona-based heavyweight with a short overhand right to the temple, dropping him where he stood. He then followed Cannonier to the canvas and finished him off with a volley of unanswered jackhammer lefts.

2. A Man in the Middle

Cannonier dazzled in his first appearance at 185 pounds—he had competed previously at heavyweight and light heavyweight—and found his new home to his liking, as he buried former World Series of Fighting champion David Branch with punches in the second round of their UFC 230 showcase on Nov. 3, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The end came 29 seconds into Round 2. Branch dictated terms for much of the first round, where he completed three takedowns, troubled “The Killa Gorilla” with positional advances and racked up nearly two minutes of control time. Everything changed in the middle stanza. Cannonier shrugged off an attempted single-leg, floored the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with a clubbing right hand and unleashed a series of unanswered punches that prompted referee Keith Peterson to act.

3. In Contention

A surging Cannonier announced his arrival as a serious player in the middleweight division when he sliced through Jack Hermansson with punches in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 160 headliner on Sept. 28, 2019 at Royal Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark. The John Crouch protégé drew the curtain 27 seconds into Round 2 and continues his climb on the 185-pound ladder. In the weeks preceding the event, Hermansson was the talk of the division. The former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder had pieced together a four-fight winning streak against increasingly stiff opposition: Thales Leites, Gerald Meerschaert, the aforementioned Branch and Ronaldo Souza. None of it mattered to Cannonier. He denied a takedown from Hermansson at the start of the second round, clipped him with an uppercut and overwhelmed him with follow-up punches to force the stoppage.

4. Short of the Mark

Israel Adesanya retained the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight crown with a five-round unanimous decision over Cannonier in the UFC 276 main event on July 2, 2022 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Scores were 49-46, 49-46 and 50-45. Adesanya made up for the lack of pizzazz with well-hone tactics and superior standup skills. A stiff jab and steady diet of leg kicks prevented Cannonier from crashing the pocket into his desired range and left him faced with an insurmountable deficit in the championship rounds. He managed to lure Adesanya into clinches and scored with more regularity late but never put himself in position to turn the corner and spring the upset. By the time it was over, “The Last Stylebender” held a 116-90 advantage in significant strikes landed and a 163-141 edge in total strikes landed.

5. Thin Margins

Thudding leg kicks and occasional bursts of power punches spurred Cannonier to a split decision over Sean Strickland in the UFC Fight Night 216 headliner on Dec. 17, 2022 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three members of the cageside judiciary struck 49-46 scorecards: Sal D’Amato for Strickland, Derek Cleary and Junichiro Kamijo for Cannonier. Neither man established much of a framework for victory, hence the discrepancies in the scorecards. Cannonier was effective with kicks to the lower extremities for much of the back-and-forth affair. Strickland, meanwhile, managed distance with a consistent jab, then picked up the pace in the middle rounds. He aimed his shots almost exclusively at the head. Cannonier continued to attack at all levels and turned up the heat late, when he seemed more willing and able to sell out on his punches upstairs.