UFC Fight Night results, highlights: Jared Cannonier wins tight split decision against Sean Strickland

Jared Cannonier remains in title contention following a close call against Sean Strickland at UFC Fight Night on Saturday. Cannonier and Strickland essentially fought strike-for-strike in a matchup that had judges deeply conflicted on the outcomes of each round.

Cannonier, admittedly tentative in recent fights, tried to take the fight to Strickland early, but his opponent was elusive. Determining the winner in Rounds 1 and 2 primarily depended on how much judges weighed Cannonier’s power leg kicks against Strickland’s jab. Most of the fighters’ blitzes were ineffective, Cannonier and Strickland did manage to land more power punches in Round 2 than in Round 1.

Both fighters opened up with combinations and power strikes in the final three rounds. Despite the increased output, the quantity and impact of strikes landed remained razor-thin. The fight’s competitive nature was reflected in the scorecards. The first judge scored the fight 49-46 for Cannonier, the second judge scored it 49-46 for Strickland. The final judge also sided with Cannonier 49-46. UFC commentator Brendan Fitzgerald revealed post-fight that no round was scored unanimously in favor of either fighter.

Cannonier improved to 16-6, bouncing back from a failed bid for the UFC middleweight championship against Israel Adesanya in July. Cannonier has defeated Strickland, Derek Brunson, Kelvin Gastelum, Jack Hermansson, Anderson Silva and David Branch since moving down to middleweight. Strickland dropped to 25-5, losing consecutive fights to Cannonier and UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira in the fight that preceded Pereira’s title win. Strickland had worked himself into title contention with six consecutive wins over the likes of Hermansson, Uriah Hall and Brendan Allen prior to his recent setbacks.

Cannonier expressed his desire to fight for another world title in his post-fight interview. Cannonier likely has work left to do. He defended his No. 3 ranking against Strickland, but Adesanya and Robert Whittaker remain ahead of him in the pecking order at present.