Jared Cannonier didn't think his experience of facing the elite of the elite in his decade in the UFC would be a significant factor in his bout against Gregory Rodrigues on Saturday in the main event of UFC Vegas 102 at Apex in Las Vegas. And for the first five minutes, he was correct.
Rodrigues took the fight to the soon-to-be 41-year-old in the first round and put a whipping on him. Rodrigues dropped Cannonier twice in the first round, was on the attack the entire five minutes and seemed like he was about to take his game to the next level..
And then, well, the dream turned into a nightmare for Rodrigues. Cannonier roared back and proved that the experience of facing multiple champions and Hall of Famers was worth something after all. He remained composed, came back strong in the second round, and used his experience to blunt Rodrigues' momentum. He got the finish 21 seconds into the fourth.
It snapped a two-fight losing streak for him and proved that, even a month away from his 41st birthday, he's still a force in the middleweight division.
"I was hurt enough to get dumped on my ass a couple of times in that fight," Cannonier said, sheepishly. "Naturally so, as Gregory hits hard as hell. He was slinging big, hard shots. So I was able to weather the storm and keep my composure even in those really tough moments. I fought my way back up to my feet. I'd rather die on my feet than die on my back."
Cannonier won the second round to even the fight, but the third was anyone's round until the final seconds, when Cannonier landed a standing elbow that essentially was the shot that ended the fight. Rodrigues went down and survived the third, but the way he walked to the corner made it obvious he was in for big trouble in the fourth if the fourth even started.
Cannonier didn't think it would, because he thought he'd won by KO at the end of the third.
"I didn't hear the bell ring at the end of the [third] round, so I thought I'd finished the fight," Cannonier said. "I got up and I was looking around like, 'How come nobody's as excited as I am?' But they reaffirmed to me it was just the end of the round."
But the end was, in fact, near. Cannonier is a terrific finisher and entered with 12 finishes among his 17 wins. When he realized he'd still had work left to do and that the fight hadn't been stopped, he want out and executed coach John Crouch's instructions in the fourth with grim precision.
Rodrigues, who had been taking heavy shots throughout the fight, looked unsteady on his legs as the fourth round began, signaling that his resilience was nearing its limit. Cannonier landed a punishing left hook with Rodrigues backed against the cage and desperately looking for a safe spot to buy some time. Cannonier came back with a whistling right hand that did big damage and sent Rodrigues sagging to the canvas. One more crunching left and it was over.
Referee Herb Dean correctly recognized that Rodrigues could no longer defend himself and jumped in to halt it at 21 seconds of the fourth.
Cannonier was insisting that experience wasn't a factor even after it was over, pointing out that each fight is its own entity.
"You know, maybe [my experience] played into it a little bit," Cannonier said. " ... It's brand new every time, you know what I mean? So it's hard to lean on my experience even though it was my [eighth] main event. Yes, experience plays a lot, but I had to lean on my team [at the MMA Lab]."
The men fulfilled a prediction each made years ago when they trained together before Rodrigues got into the UFC. They predicted that one day they'd face each other in a UFC main event.
Rodrigues fought valiantly but ultimately found himself unable to continue, as Cannonier’s experience and precision proved too much to overcome. Cannonier has fought at the highest level of mixed martial arts for a decade, and leaned on every moment of that experience in reversing the momentum of a hungry young fighter who entered the bout flush with confidence from a three-fight winning streak.
The finish came as a bitter disappointment for Rodrigues, but the result was proof that Cannonier still has plenty left for the world's elite middleweights.
Jeff Bottari/Zuffa
Gregory Rodrigues (L) was in control of the fight with Jared Cannonier early.