Cannonier rebounds with TKO of Rodrigues in UFC main event
Jared Cannonier reminded the world he's still one of the top middleweights in the UFC on Saturday.
The 40-year-old former title challenger rallied to finish Gregory Rodrigues with a TKO in the UFC Fight Night main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The stoppage came 21 seconds into the fourth round.
Cannonier, ranked No. 7 in the 185-pound division, snapped a two-fight losing streak with the victory.
"I felt great," Cannonier said in his postfight interview. "I could do this for five more rounds if I needed to."
Cannonier overcame some early adversity to secure the win. Rodrigues started strong and dropped Cannonier twice in the first round, with a right hand and then a left hook. Cannonier recovered well from both knockdowns, but Rodrigues landed punches at a higher clip and pressured his opponent all round.
"I guess I was hurt enough to get jumped on my ass a couple of times in that fight," Cannonier said. "But naturally so. Gregory hits hard as hell, and he was slinging big ass shots. I was able to weather the storm and keep my composure even in those really tough spots."
The momentum shifted toward Cannonier in the second as Rodrigues began to slow down. Cannonier outlanded Rodrigues 35-26 in that frame.
Cannonier and Rodrigues traded heavy blows in the third, with Rodrigues getting the better of the exchanges. But Cannonier stole the round with a ferocious knockdown in the final 20 seconds, flooring Rodrigues with a right elbow in the clinch. Cannonier followed up with a handful of heavy shots on the ground, but time expired.
Cannonier said he didn't hear the horn and thought referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the fight - for good.
"I got up and I was looking around like, 'How come nobody's as excited as I am?'" Cannonier said. "But then they reaffirmed that it was just the end of the round, and I was like, 'Ugh, OK.'"
Rodrigues never seemed to truly recover from the knockdown. Cannonier, smelling blood, immediately went back on the attack at the start of the fourth round. "The Killa Gorilla" landed a barrage of shots up against the fence, hurt "RoboCop" again, and forced the referee to wave off the fight - this time, for good.
Cannonier earned his first victory since a unanimous decision over Marvin Vettori in June 2023 and his first stoppage win since knocking out Derek Brunson in February 2022.
The bout was Cannonier's third straight fight against an up-and-coming middleweight who was either ranked below him or not in the top 15 at all. Cannonier dropped losses to Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho - via fourth-round TKO and unanimous decision, respectively - last year, but he prevailed against the unranked Rodrigues to keep his top-10 position intact.
Rodrigues' three-fight winning streak ended as the 32-year-old Brazilian came up short for the first time since a knockout loss to Brunno Ferreira in June 2023.