HOUSTON – Jared Cannonier may have finally solidified the title shot that’s eluded him thus far in his career by beating Derek Brunson at UFC 271 on Saturday.
After falling short in title eliminators twice before, Cannonier (15-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) got over the hump with a second-round knockout over Brunson (23-8 MMA, 14-6 UFC) in a bout many viewed as the table-setter for the next middleweight contender. A gruesome series of elbows ended the fight at the 4:29 mark.
The 185-pound bout was the featured main card matchup Saturday at Toyota Center.
MISSION. ACCOMPLISHED. 🤯
[ @KillaGorillaMMA | #UFC271 is LIVE on E+ PPV: https://t.co/K6X32sXlXb ] pic.twitter.com/PrGzzJlvLr
— UFC (@ufc) February 13, 2022
Brunson approached the beginning of the first round as one would expect. He threw punches to figure out his range but changed levels at every opening and got on Cannonier’s legs. He secured a number of takedowns, but Cannonier repeatedly found his way up. That opened up his striking, though, and Brunson connected with a right hook for the knockdown late in the round. He pounced on Cannonier and nearly got a rear-naked choke to finish the fight, but he ran out of time.
Brunson attempted to continue his momentum with an immediate takedown in Round 2. Cannonier got back to his feet, though, and landed a number of solid punches that seemed to take the steam out of Brunson. The takedown attempts for Brunson went by the wayside, and he struggled to find the range on his punches and kicks. Cannonier grew in confidence as time ticked off the clock, and he landed a huge elbow that rocked Brunson with less than one minute left. Cannonier took Brunson down and landed some vicious elbows from side control to knock his opponent out cold.
After securing the win, Cannonier now turns his attention to tonight’s UFC 271 middleweight title headliner between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker.
“Get Dana (White),” Cannonier said in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. ” I want the title shot next. I get it next. Nobody else. Me next.”
Up-to-the-minute UFC 271 results include:
- Jared Cannonier def. Derek Brunson via TKO (elbows) – Round 2, 4:29
- Renato Moicano def. Alexander Hernandez via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:23
- Bobby Green def. Nasrat Haqparast via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Andrei Arlovski def. Jared Vanderaa via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Casey O’Neill def. Roxanne Modafferi via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Kyler Phillips def. Marcelo Rojo via submission (armbar) – Round 3, 1:48
- Carlos Ulberg def. Fabio Cherant via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Ronnie Lawrence def. Mana Martinez via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-28)
- Jacob Malkoun def. AJ Dobson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Douglas Silva de Andrade def. Sergey Morozov via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:34
- Jeremiah Wells def. Blood Diamond via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:38
- Maxim Grishin def. William Knight via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
