Cannonier turned in a historic performance against Vettori in the UFC on ESPN 46 Main Event.
Canonier’s remarkable tome put his name in the history books. After five rounds of penalty finishing, he had unanimous scores of 49-45, 49-45, and 48-46 in his favour.
Vettori had a huge moment in the opening seconds of the fight with a hard left hand landing that wobbled with Cannonier. Vittori swept through, but after a moment, it was Canonnier who landed a big punch to get Vittori’s attention. The heavy middleweight continued to exchange both devastating blows for landings.
Cannonier was knocked out in the second round. Big punches from “The Killa Gorilla” found their mark, as he put Vittori on his back foot early. A kick knocked Vittori off his feet, and Cannonier lunged in with heavy punches from above. Vettori got back to his feet, but Cannonier continued to unload.
Vettori stayed in the fight, bruised and bloodied, but Cannonier kept moving forward, swinging and landing hooks. With 30 seconds left, Vittori somehow landed a few punches to keep Cannonier honest.
Vettori’s toughness and quick recovery showed early in the third period, as he got out of the trade with Cannonier. Despite landing a few clean strokes, Cannonier began to turn things in his favor again, adding a takedown into the hitting mix. But just when the momentum shifted, Vettori got back into the fight.
Back and forth exchanges continued early in the fourth round. Both fighters took turns launching punches and kicks, but Cannonier would turn it around with a clean takedown. Vittori made his way back and back to the center to deliver more punches. Then Cannonier’s left jab began to score over and over, creating combos.
With only five minutes left, Cannonier continued to land a powerful touchdown, as Vittori’s header popped. As if the strikes didn’t score, Vettori kept firing, likely causing Canonier to wonder what it would take to finish the fight. After more punches, Cannonier brought the fight to the floor with 90 seconds left in the bout. There, he landed the heavy ground and pound, but Vettori bounced back, and the fight ended in a clinch in the final century.
Cannonier set the singles fight record for most strikes landed in a UFC middleweight bout, landing a total of 241 according to UFC Stats.