LAS VEGAS – Israel Adesanya took a look at the Cosmic Crystal Ball at the UFC 276 news conference on Thursday. Behind them on stage were Sean Strickland and Alex Pereira, a pair of middleweights on the undercard this weekend.
The winner of that fight will most likely be for Adesana’s middleweight title – and “The Last Stylebender” spent more time verbally behind Strickland and Pereira than his real next rival.
Before Adesanya can open the door for his next challenge, he must successfully defend his UFC middleweight title against Jared Cannonier in the UFC 276 headliner at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night. And the hard-hitting Cannoneer won’t appear in the past, even though the Adesania-490 is a favorite, per Kaiser.
Adesanya is one of the best fighters in the world. ESPN ranked him 3rd in the world in the pound-for-pound list. In middleweight, Adesanya is at No. 1 and Canonier is at No. 3.
Adesanya (22-1) is unbeaten at 185 pounds, perfecting 11-0 in the UFC in that weight category. The Nigerian-born New Zealand player is considering a unanimous victory over rival Robert Whitaker in UFC 271 in February. Adesan, 32, has defended four successful middleweight titles since combining the belts with Whitaker in 2019. In March 2021, he lost his only Pro MMA to the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship at UFC 259.
Canonier (15-5) has won two in a row and five of the last six. The Arizona native is descending from a second-round knockout from Derek Branson at UFC 271. Canonier, 38, finished the fight in three different weight divisions: heavyweight, light heavyweight and middleweight. His only middleweight loss was against Whitaker in 2020.
In the co-main event at UFC 276, Alexander Volkanowski will defend his featherweight title against former champion Max Holloway in a triple match. Volkanowski and Holloway are the best featherweight fighters in UFC history. ESPN ranks Volkanowski 4th in the world pound-per-pound rankings and Holloway ranks 6th on that list.
Volkanowski (24-1) has won 11 consecutive UFC matches and won a total of 21. The Australian native has won three successful titles since winning the belt from Holloway in 2019. Volkanowski, 33, has beaten Holloway twice, most recently winning a close, split decision in UFC 251 in July 2020.
Holloway (23-6) suffered two consecutive defeats to Volkanowski. Holloway, 30, took the UFC Featherweight title with three successful title defenses from 2016 to 2018.
Also on the cards, Strickland and Pereira will meet in the prospect of a middleweight title eliminator. Strickland is one of the most wasteful speakers in the division, while Pereira is 2-0 in kickboxing with a knockout victory over Adesanya. In addition, former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler faces Brian Barberena, and top bantamweight prospect Sean O’Malley faces veteran Pedro Munhoz in O’Malley’s toughest test ever.
Repeat the action in Las Vegas with Brett Okamoto and Mark Raymondi or watch the fights live on ESPN + PPV.
Still to come:
Middleweight Championship: Israel Adesanya (c) (22-1, 11-1 UFC, -490) vs. Jared Cannonier (15-5, 8-5 UFC, +370)
Men’s Featherweight Championship: Alexander Volkanowski (c) (24-1, 11-0 UFC, -210) vs. Max Holloway (23-6, 19-6 UFC, +175)
Middleweight: Sean Strickland (25-3, 12-3 UFC, -120) vs. Alex Pereira (5-1, 2-0 UFC, +100)
Welterweight: Robbie Lawler (29-15, 14-9 UFC, -120) vs. Brian Barberena (17-8, 8-6 UFC, +100)
Men’s Bantamweight: Pedro Munhoz (19-7 1 NC, 9-7 1 NC UFC, +250) Vs. Sean O’Malley (15-1, 7-1 UFC, -310)
Lightweight: Brad Riedel (10-2, 4-1 UFC, +125) vs. Jalin Turner (12-5, 5-2 UFC, -150)
Welterweight: Jim Miller (34-16, 23-16 UFC, -190) vs. Donald Seron (36-16 2 NC, 23-13 1 NC UFC, +160)
Welterweight: Ian Gary (9-0, 2-0 UFC, -175) vs. Gabe Green (11-3, 2-1 UFC, +150)
Middleweight: Brad Towers (19-7, 14-6 UFC, +130) vs. Dricus du Plessis (16-2, 2-0 UFC, -155)
Middleweight: Uria Hall (18-10, 10-8 UFC, +270) vs. Andre Muniz (22-4, 4-0 UFC, -340)
Women’s Flyweight: Jessica I (15-10 1 NC, 5-91 NC UFC +240) Vs. Messi Barber (10-2, 5-2 UFC, -300)
Women’s Bantamweight: Jessica-Rose Clark (11-7, 4-3 UFC, -155) vs. Juliza Stolyarenko (9-7-2, 0-3 UFC, +130)
(c) = past winner