What a comeback for Jared Cannonier!
After being floored a number of occasions in spherical considered one of his UFC Vegas 102 essential occasion in opposition to Gregory Rodrigues, “The Killa Gorilla” roared again with a fourth spherical knockout. The win prevented Cannonier’s first profession three combat shedding streak.
The seventh ranked middleweight now has choices. Let’s check out what’s subsequent for the 40-year-old.
Paulo Costa: How has this by no means occurred?
There are particular fights the place you look again and marvel how they had been by no means booked. For instance: how did Andrei Arlovski and Junior Dos Santos by no means combat? Jared Cannonier and Paulo Costa is one such combat. Each are mainstays of the UFC’s middleweight division however have by no means been matched up.
Now on a win and ranked seven, Cannonier is in a bizarre spot. Above him are fighters like Robert Whittaker, Caio Borralho and Nassourdine Imavov, all who’ve convincingly beat Cannonier. This implies The MMA Lab contender will probably need to combat down once more, although not an unranked opponent. Costa is ranked eleven. This might be a deserving essential occasion and a enjoyable stylistic matchup.
Run it again: Jared Cannonier vs. Sean Strickland 2
Jared Cannonier title run at 40 begins now? One conceivable matchup that’s ranked above Cannonier is Sean Strickland. The timeline matches up with Strickland combating simply final week.
“The Killa Gorilla” holds a detailed break up choice win over Strickland again in 2022. With Strickland ranked 2, we might realistically see Cannonier and Strickland run it again to see if the primary combat was a fluke or if Cannonier actually can beat middleweight’s weirdest fighter.
One other contender: Roman Kopylov
Should you’re intent on Jared Cannonier not combating above his rating, which is warranted, however need him in a ranked combat, look no additional than Roman Kopylov. Ranked at fourteen, Kopylov is coming off of a win final January to Chris Curtis. That end was a head kick that earned him Combat of the Evening honors.
Now Kopylov is seeking to transfer up within the rankings after beating Curtis and Almeida in subsequent fights. His final loss was early in 2024 in opposition to Fluffy Hernandez. Earlier than that, it was a 4 combat streak. Kopylov desires a shot within the high ten and Cannonier could be that shot.
