Jared Cannonier vs Sean Strickland prediction

Former UFC 84kg title contender Jared Cannonier is looking forward to the taste of victory again after a bad run, and Fight Night 216 will give him the opportunity. Already on December 18, in Las Vegas, he will share the cage of the organization in the main fight of the evening with Sean Strickland, and at stake will be the third position in the middleweight ranking, so to speak - a place among the division's elite.

The odds for the fighters are extremely close, because the guys managed to prove their worth in confrontations with a number of tough opponents. Both prefer to duel in the standing position, which makes it doubly interesting, whose style will be more effective in practice. Will any of them be able to reassert their title claims?

Jared Cannonier vs Sean Strickland

Jared Cannonier

As mentioned above, the American takes the 3rd line of the official rating. At the moment, he competes in the middleweight division, although before that he tried himself in the heavy and light heavyweight categories. Jared's collection includes 5 bonuses for the best performances and fights of the evening, the title of champion of the top Alaska MMA league - AFC, and he was won at a time when "Killa Gorilla" played in the heavyweights, as well as the status of an ex-contender for the UFC belt. The list of Kannonir's rivals includes a whole series of real legends of this sport, therefore, the graduate of the MMA Lab hall is more than deserved in his position.

Strengths

Jared has a high percentage of effective muscle mass, which allows him to generate impressive peak power when it comes to explosive attacks. Even the bigger guys had a hard time tying him in clinches and at the net.

This is exactly the case when one blow decides everything. Even low-amplitude punches (Derek Brunson will not let you lie) performed by Kannonir carry destructive power. Needless to say, he is one of the few who has scored knockout victories in three different divisions.

"The Killa Gorilla" was knocked out twice in his career, but it happened in the categories up to 93 and 120 kg. None of the middleweights was able to finish it, and even Whittaker, having dropped the opponent, was faced with the fact that he simply could not turn it off. The resilience of an American, even at such a respectable age, is impressive.

Weaknesses

During his ascent in the rankings, Jared's shortcomings were not so noticeable. However, having met with two ex-champions, he exposed his main gap - slowness. Add a little more maneuverability to its power and everything would be great, but nothing in the world is perfect.

Despite starting in BJJ, Kannonier's game on the ground floor has long ceased to be his weapon. He can cover opponents, however, competent control and especially submissions are a forgotten past.

The current form and readiness of the fighter

Jared is 38 years old, but despite this, in the last 5 fights he lost only to Whittaker and Adesanya, before having dealt with Jack Hermansson, Kelvin Gastelum and Derek Brunson. In all these fights, the athlete demonstrated a fairly good base of skills, he is able to work out 5 rounds, but his style is finally formed and it is not worth talking about any improvements at this age. It will be great if Cannonier can keep in shape since his July performance, otherwise, it is a waste to expect any innovations from him.

Jared Cannonier vs Sean Strickland

Sean Strickland

The fighter, nicknamed "Tarzan", left the top five not so long ago and is now on the 7th line of the rating. From 2011 to 2013, Sean owned the title of the prestigious KOTC league, which he successfully defended five times, after which he tried for a long time to break through to the top of the UFC middle division, simultaneously trying his hand at 77 kg. However, Kamaru Usman, Santiago Ponzinibbio and Eizzeu Zaleski dos Santos were barriers that prevented him from reaching his goal quickly.

Strengths

Strickland demonstrates a very interesting technique in the cage: arms pressed to his chest, an abundance of straight lines from both limbs, work from the center of the octagon, as well as pressure, despite external clumsiness, give him the opportunity to capture space and overtake opponents with hits from non-standard angles.

American takedowns are far from uncommon, despite his passion for boxing. When Sean fails at something in the standing position, he willingly goes for a transfer and reveals his potential in the ground and pound. In addition, "Tarzan" has a blank in the form of a choke from behind.

The fight with Pereira made it clear that Strickland was not perfect in the stance, however, until that moment, his defense in both vertical and horizontal positions rarely gave slack. It's really hard to get a Californian.

Weaknesses

In certain episodes, the American is ready to sacrifice his own head, taking damage, just to maintain his offensive strategy. In addition, he does not always manage to switch during the fight, which is why smarter opponents have time to take advantage of his weaknesses. Yes, and Sean's thirst to hit exclusively in the head, with an unwillingness to hold his hands higher, also raises questions, after all, we are talking about a UFC top ten fighter.

The current form and readiness of the fighter

Strickland is 31 years old and, having entered a series of 6 victories, he had every chance of becoming a contender for the belt, if not for the duel with Alex Pereira. The knockout in which he flew away, once again spitting on defense for the sake of his standard style of fighting, crossed out triumphs in fights with Jack Hermansson, Urijah Hall and Krzysztof Jotko, not counting the rest. Sean is really a non-standard, difficult opponent for any middleweight, however, his not the most outstanding fighting IQ often prevents him from achieving success on the battlefield.

Comparative analysis

As before, we start with anthropometry: Sean is 5 cm taller than Jared, but loses to him in terms of arm span by 3 cm, that is, we do not observe any critical indicators here, putting parity between the guys. In the next paragraph, let's compare the power and physical dаta: the former heavyweight Cannonier is clearly ahead of his countryman in terms of strength, and Strickland better not try to prove the opposite, otherwise he risks being on the floor again.

Stylistically, the fighters are similar only in that they prefer to work in a stand, but if "Tarzan" is more like a boxer, then Jared has a rich arsenal, consisting not only of combinations from hands on floors, but also kicks, and this, along with his physics, will make it possible to increase the advantage in attacking actions. The only thing is that Sean is much more willing to go forward and throw more accented punches, because Cannonier will have to fully reveal his possibilities for working as number two.

The duel on the ground floor is more likely to be Strickland's initiative, and only if "Killa Gorilla" gets him with her right hand or crushes him near the net. Given that Jared is more inventive, he will let his opponent work at the start of the meeting, gradually pulling him to his counterattacks. Both of them tolerate damage well, so we are in for a protracted fight, where the key role will be played by the game plan, and not by the physical abilities of the athletes.

Jared Cannonier vs Sean Strickland Prediction

Bookmakers see Sean as a minor favorite in this pair, although his last fight can hardly be called outstanding. Is Strickland's straight-forward, somewhat brash, street style, with his right cross and fast jab, enough to take Jared down? Perhaps at a distance of 25 minutes, this will play some role, but I will never believe that Cannonier does not organize at least a few attempts to finish the enemy. Moreover, in July, Tarzan was knocked out in the first round. For this reason, and also because of the technical arsenal that the ex-contender has, he is more believed in his triumph, although, for a convincing victory, he needs a knockout, because it will be much more difficult to breathe a vis-a-vis, and then raise the pace and then maintain it. Install the 1xbet app and place a bet on the favorite!

Prediction: Jared Cannonier to win.

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