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Horse Racing UFC Fight Night Cannonier vs Strickland Best Bet: The Killa Gorilla Bounces Back
UFC Fight Night Cannonier vs Strickland Best Bet: Saturday, December 17th
The final UFC event of 2022 will be UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs Strickland and in the very last fight of the year, we will see these two middleweights go against each other in the main event. Both are coming off losses in the last few months, but Strickland suffered a tough KO loss against the current champion Alex Pereira.
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Jared Cannonier vs Sean Strickland Preview
Sun, Dec 18th TBD
After an unsuccessful attempt at the title this summer, Jared Cannonier, aka ‘The Killa Gorilla’ makes his way back to the octagon. At 38 years of age, he is trying to make at least one more shot at Middleweight gold, and taking down Sean Strickland certainly won’t hurt. Cannonier holds an MMA record of 15 wins and 6 losses, with 10 of those wins coming off KO/TKO’s. The most interesting thing about this fighter is that he now fights in the Middleweight division, but he used to be a heavyweight in his early days. However, he has toned his body down a lot and has gained a 5-2 record since joining the division.
He is predominantly known for his striking, more precisely his power, but Cannonier can also hold his own on the ground. He isn’t exactly known for his grappling prowess, averaging 0.19 takedowns on 25% accuracy, but when the fight goes to the ground, he knows how to get up or try for a finish. He has suffered 2 career KO/TKO losses, but the most recent one was 4 years ago, before stepping down to Middleweight. He has fought against Robert Whittaker, Kelvin Gastelum, Anderson Silva, Derek Brunson and Israel Adesanya. Cannonier is a dangerous opponent for Strickland, and if this fight turns out to be another kickboxing match, he will most likely come out on top.
It’s been smooth sailing for Sean Strickland in the UFC since removing up to Middleweight, winning all of his fights up until this summer. He ran through the division, defeating Jack Marshman, Brendan Allen, Krzysztof Jotko, Uriah Hall and Jack Hermansson. All were decision wins except Brendan Allen, whom he TKO-ed. However, this summer Strickland faced Alex Pereira, the current champ at UFC 276 and suffered his second career KO/TKO loss. He wasn’t completely out but was clearly unable to continue fighting, and that was enough for the ref to call it a night.
Strickland is primarily a striker who is very good at reading his opponent’s moves and moving off counters. However, he also keeps his hands down, chin up a lot and leaves himself exposed. He averages 5.54 strikes per minute but also absorbs 4.01. His takedown defence has been really good at 85% in his UFC career, but I don’t expect this to be needed, as Cannonier doesn’t really shoot for takedowns that much. But the biggest concern behind Strickland’s name this weekend will be his chin and his confidence. Getting KOed is a major confidence killer, and despite seeming alright in all of his interviews, I do expect some caution from him.
Jared Cannonier vs Sean Strickland Best Bet
We all know what Jared Cannonier can do, so this fight will really depend a lot on what Sean Strickland decides to do. For some reason, he decided to stay in range with the former kickboxing world champ and suffered the consequences. No one in their right mind would use this as a tactic in the UFC but hey, we all know who we’re talking about. I expect him to show some sense this time around.
However, Jared Cannonier is a very dangerous striker. He uses his leg and body kicks to wear opponents down, which we saw most recently in that Derek Brunson fight. Despite almost getting submitted in the first, Cannonier continued working and eventually got the finish against a very dangerous opponent. He has the power to put his opponent away this weekend, and in a 5-round main event, I’m backing him to come out on top.
- Selection: Cannonier to Win
- Best odds: 2.03 (Coolbet)
- Stakes: 6/10
Odds as at 1:00 pm on December 16th, 2022. Odds may now differ.
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