Adesanya defended again, Alexander is still Big and wants to dominate the next weight division, Cowboy retires. What did UFC 276 look like?

The UFC has prepared a spectacular show for Las Vegas. So the main card was really just attractive and fan-appealing fights, including two title fights. Israel Adesanya defended his belt against Jared Cannonier, while Alexander Volkanovski took on Max Holloway for the third time. What did UFC 276 look like?

Early prelims and prelims

The first two cards were graced by 7 fights at UFC 276. However, there were no knockouts to be seen. On the contrary, three fights were ended via submission.

The first submission was already seen in the first bout, when the favorite Jessica-Rose Clark was not able to keep up with Yulia Stoliarenko. The match lasted only 42 seconds.

Maycee Barber won by unanimous points over Jessica Eye, Andre Muniz and Uriah Hall did the same, Dricus Du Plessis defeated Brad Tavares and Ian Garry took on Gabriel Green.

The last two fights before the main card again ended with the winners on a submission. Jim Miller thus ended the career of legendary Cowboy Donald Cerrone.

The battle for the fastest submission of the tournament was then lost by three seconds when Jalin Turner defeated Brad Riddle after 45 seconds.

Main Card

The main card kicked off with Sean O’Malley’s anticipated battle with Pedro Munhoz. The rangy and confident O’Malley had the biggest challenge of his career ahead of him, taking on a fighter ranked in the top ten of his weight class for the first time. And it showed.

Munhoz had been in big fights with great fighters in the past and O’Malley was not having an easy time of it. However, the bout ultimately ended in a no decision as Munhoz was unable to continue the fight after an inadvertent poke to the eye.

A spectacular show was subsequently given to the crowd by the legendary Robbie Lawler and the exuberant Bryan Barberena. A post fight shootout from both sides, both fighters withstood an incredible series of hard punches. However, seconds before the end of the second round, the referee stopped the bout in favor of Barberena.

An interesting situation is shaping up in the middleweight division. Alex Pereira scored another win, beating Sean Strickland in less than three minutes. Of course, he immediately asked for a title shot and would like to fight Israel Adesanya for the belt.

It’s worth noting that Pereira has beaten Adesanya twice in kickboxing and is looking to add a third notch. He also urged fans to support Adesanya in the main event of the night.

Alexander the Great still reigns supreme

Max Holloway vs. Alexander Volkanovski 3. That was the main preliminary match of the tournament. A very tempting battle between two of the best featherweight fighters in a long time. Among other things, it was Volkanovski who took the title from Holloway in December 2019 and has been defending it successfully ever since.

This is despite a second fight between the two ending in a split decision, which has long been disputed as to whether he won rightfully. The third match was supposed to break it up, and quite possibly it did.

Both fighters went into the fight wanting to end it, only it didn’t happen. And neither fighter went down. However, rather surprisingly, Volkanovski was much better in the standup. He showed tremendous progress, letting Holloway do virtually nothing, on the contrary, destroying him himself with hard punches.

In all rounds the Australian had the upper hand over the Hawaiian fighter. So when the fifth round ended, everyone knew who would raise his hands. This gives Volkanovski his fourth successful defense and a 12-fight win streak in the UFC, where he hasn’t lost once.

Volkanovski then, among other things, announced an assault on the lightweight division, which is now without a champion. Former champion Charles Oliveira failed to make the weight limit before his fight with Justin Gaethje, which caused him to lose the belt despite winning.

Cannonier vs Adesanya

An interesting challenge for the reigning champion. Jared Cannonier came into the UFC as a heavyweight fighter, but gradually moved up through the welterweight division to middleweight, where he won a title fight with Israel Adesanya.

Adesanya is a great showman, which he showed when he entered the fight, but his recent fights have come under fire from critics for being “over-the-top”, which just doesn’t “pull” as much. But now he promised the fans an early end to the fight and vowed to be at his best.

And in the match, it looked like he was. Adesanya entertained. He didn’t hit Cannonier with an overwhelming amount of punches, but he was able to hit him hard. And watching him move, it’s just a joy. He’s incredibly difficult to get close to, and his challenger saw that.

That’s why Cannonier tried to tie up the fight from the third round on, and made sporadic takedown attempts, but was never successful.

Cannonier went into the fifth round knowing that his only chance to win was to stop Adesanya. So he tried to apply pressure, but it was to no avail and that meant only one thing. The reigning champion has made another defence and we can look forward to his duel with Pereira.

Source: UFC