ISRAEL ADESANYA won the UFC middleweight title by striking a blow against Jared Cannonier.
The Nigerian-born Kiwi made the fifth defense of the 185lb belt early Sunday morning at the main event of UFC 276 in Las Vegas.
He retained his title through a unanimous decision
Adesanya entered the International Fight Week headliner full of confidence and vowed to 'f**k' the Killa Gorilla.
Although the fan favorite failed to fulfill his promise, he displayed a remarkable masterclass and cruised to a unanimous victory. This was thanks to 49-46 scorecards, 49-46 and 50-45 scorecards.
He'll hope for a more convincing victory against Alex Pereira, a former foe in kickboxing - who just hours before scored a brutal KO of Sean Strickland.
Joe Rogan, UFC commentator, said that he knew who was next. That Poatan Porra.
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Trust me, the first time I said it was an error by myself - a stabbing right handed. That was kickboxing.
"It's simple to knock out, but what's the name of the hillbilly? He was parrying the jab.
"But, like I said at my press conference, the next time I put your on skates you're going get frozen like Elsa."
Adesanya, who made a tribute to WWE legend The Undertaker when he walked up to the cage, was not in a hurry to make a statement. He took his time and looked for opportunities with feints.
After taking the centre position in the octagon he began to perform fast, painfully low leg kicks.
Cannonier started slowly but surely to place Adesanya on the wrong foot, even though he was a bit sloppy with his telegraphed right.
Adesanya continued to play the counter striking game while he sat back. However, he did start to open up with jabs towards end of the stanza. He closed the stanza with a beautiful right-hand.
Cannonier switched his tact in round 2. He stepped up the gas and mixed in takedown attempts.
The elusive and smooth Adesanya managed to evade all attempts and kept going with his sharp striking.
Cannonier was snapped by a good straight right hand before an accidental eye poke halted the action.
Adesanya was happy to be on the outside for the third and fourth rounds, and picked Cannonier apart from a distance.
He continued to do a beautiful mix of right and left leg kicks between clinches against fences.
Cannonier was able to land some solid shots against the cage, but the champ was not able to stay on the fence for long enough to cause any serious injury.
Cannonier, a former heavyweight, went for broke following the fourth and final restart. He narrowly missed with an important right.
However, for his side and him, he couldn't close the distance for long enough to put Adesanya in serious trouble.
He was unable to see the distance and found himself tied up with beautiful lead elbows.
Adesanya was able to evade single-leg and late clinch attempts. However, he did eat his right hand after landing a hard jab.
Adesanya was happy to remain on the outside during the last moments of the fight. He closed it out with a low kick.
Adesanya, despite retaining his unbeaten record at Middleweight, was not impressed by his performance.
He was quick to praise a game and he harried Cannonier by saying, "One thing that I was looking forward to was facing Jared als an opponent.
"But the second thing that I was looking forward was John Crouch against Eugene Bareman.
"Two great coaches and two great teams. They had an excellent game plan, and that's what I will tell you.
"It was hard to get my follow ups going, my second stages were difficult because they had a really great game plan and Jared’s fortitude in their minds.
