Tomorrow night in the headliner of UFC Vegas 66, we are going to see a fun middleweight matchup to close out the year. Former title challenger Jared “The Killa Gorilla” Cannonier (15-6) takes on the incredibly tough and entertaining Sean Strickland (25-4).
Both men are looking to get back on track after tough losses in their last bouts. This fight was actually supposed to take place back in October, however, due to an injury, the bout had to be pushed back. Now, these two are finally set to meet.
Sean Strickland saw his six-fight winning streak snapped the last time we saw him. He fought now middleweight champion Alex Pereira at UFC 276. It was a fight that was considered a title eliminator and Strickland got knocked out in the first round.
He’s hoping to reverse course tomorrow night, but he’s facing a man with big power. Jared Cannonier knocked out Derek Brunson earlier this year to earn a title shot against Israel Adesanya. They fought at UFC 276 and Cannonier just couldn’t get started. He’s looking to make a statement tomorrow night.
UFC Vegas 66 Prediction
This matchup tomorrow night is going to come down to volume versus power. Aggressiveness versus patience. One of those will win out and it will translate to one of these fighters. For Strickland, he needs to frustrate and overwhelm Cannonier at UFC Vegas 66.
Strickland needs to use rangy strikes and a consistent volume that never lets Cannonier get comfortable. For Cannonier, he needs to rely on big power shots that slows the advances of Strickland. With Strickland’s high stance, I’m thinking about powerful low kicks and then mixing shots to the body.
The bigger shots are going to come from Jared Cannonier. Will he land a knockout shot though? I easily can see a world where Strickland wins a lopsided decision based on effective volume striking. However, something tells me Cannonier lands big in the middle rounds and gets a big win.
Prediction: Jared Cannonier by TKO – Round 3