Israel Adesanya outpoints Jared Cannonier to retain middleweight crown
Adesanya pieced up the title challenger to successfully retain his championship for a fifth time
Ahead of the UFC 276 main event, UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya made quite a stir with an entrance inspired by WWE legend The Undertaker.
The ensuing performance wasn't quite as entertaining as Adesanya methodically worked his way to a unanimous decision victory over Jared Cannonier.
Adesanya's gameplan revolved around working the jab, feinting and landing leg kicks.
It wasn't pretty and left the crowd frustrated but it was effective in taking out a powerhouse striker in Cannonier.
Cannonier attempted to make a mid-fight adjustment to work from the clinch against the cage.
Unfortunately for the challenger, when he was able to grab a clinch, he was not often able to do much offensively beyond landing knees to Adesanya's thighs.
The fight was lacking in big action moments, and instead showcased Adesanya's technical skills and the ability of those skills to nullify the brute force approach of Cannonier.
Often Cannonier was left reaching for counter shots after Adesanya had already landed one or two strikes and moved well out of striking range.
Cannonier also occasionally attempted to score a takedown rather than settle for a clinch against the cage,