Cannonier punishes Marvin Vettori

Jared Cannonier nearly became the first fighter to knock out Italian Marvin Vettori, winning a unanimous decision in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night middleweight main event at the Apex in Las Vegas.

Cannonier connected on 241 significant strikes against Vettori, setting a new UFC middleweight record (was 186) with the fourth-highest total in the promoter’s history.

The 39-year-old middleweight said he has taken a more aggressive approach since last year, when he was criticized for underperforming in a title loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 276.

“After the Adesanya fight, my goal was to increase my performance,” said Cannonier, following the UFC Fight Night inside the Apex main event. “The most knockouts in middleweight history? He took it.”

The feat was made all the more impressive by the fact that Vettori (19-6-1) badly rocked Cannonier several times with left hands in the first round. Cannonier was visibly hurt from the blows, but recovered very quickly and maintained relative control the rest of the fight. He gave Vettori a bloody nose in the second round and opened a cut under his left eye in the third. He finished the 25-minute bout in top position, throwing dangerous punches out of Vettori’s guard.

“I want to fight for the title,” Cannonier declared. “That’s what I’m here for, to fight for the title. I know they already have a contender’s fight [between Robert Whittaker and Dricus Du Plessis on July 8], but I’m willing to step in if something happens. in that fight or take a fight that gives me a title shot.”

Vettori was coming in having won two of his last three fights after losing to Izzy, including a unanimous decision win over Roman Dolidze in March.

Cannonier, meanwhile, won his most recent fight against Sean Strickland in December after losing to Adesanya in July 2022.