New Delhi: Jared Cannonier recorded a crucial comeback victory against crowd favourite Gregory Rodrigues in the middleweight main event of UFC Vegas 102 at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas on Sunday. Cannonier managed to snap his two-match losing streak with a much-needed victory against Brazilian Rodrigues.
It was a thrilling main event match which saw ‘Killa Gorilla’ Cannonnier and Rodrigues land some heavy blows on each other in the first three rounds. Both fighters gave their all in a match which went back and forth and saw some vicious punches and near knock-out moves. Rodrigues nearly knocked out Cannonnier twice during the bout but the American fought back.
The ‘Killa Gorilla’ came hard at Rodrigues in the third and fourth rounds, leaving him rattled with some deadly shots. Cannonnier eventually got the win via TKO in the fourth round to win the main event. The 7th-ranked Cannonier opened up on his future ambitions after his comeback victory against Rodrigues as he said he is hoping to fight someone higher-ranked in his next UFC bout.
Jared Cannonier targets Sean Strickland or Israel Adesanya for next fight
Cannonier spoke about his plans after his win against Rodrigues at UFC 102 and said he would ideally like to fight someone higher ranked than him to prove his worth. However, the American insisted he is aware that there are only a limited number of fighters he can be paired up against as most of them are in line to get a shot at the title.
“I think I’m definitely getting a ranked opponent after that victory; I would like someone ranked higher than me,” 7th-ranked Cannonier said after beating Rodrigues.
“Unfortunately, all of the people ranked higher than me are either in line to get a title shot, or are going to wait for a title shot, or just beat me – but I’m not going to rule anything out… Shoot man, if they said, ‘Hey Jared, we need you to fight Dricus next for the belt’, I’d be like ‘Hell yes, I’m ready’,” he added.
On being asked about potential rematches with Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya in the future, Cannonier said – “Absolutely; as long as I keep winning – you know what I mean – yeah.” Cannonier had faced Adesanya in a blockbuster middleweight title clash in July 2022 where he lost via unanimous decision. However, he defeated Strickland five months later to return to winning ways.
Jared Cannonier defeated Gregory Rodrigues via fourth-round TKO in the main event of UFC Vegas 102 on Sunday. Cannonier is trageting Sean Strickland or Jared Cannonier for his next fight. UFC Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
