#3 ranked UFC middleweight contender, Jared Cannonier is back in the victor’s enclosure — lodging his fourth victory at middleweight via a very close and competitive unanimous decision triumph over former interim title challenger, Kelvin Gastelum to round out tonight’s UFC Vegas 34 card.
Cannonier gets off to a bright start in the opening round, offering up a wide array of punishing kicks, particularly to Gastelum’s outside right leg as well as switching in right kicks to the mid-section. Some decent movement from Gastelum in the first as well.
Utilizing his always-impressive boxing in that second round, Kings MMA staple, Gastelum landed a crisp left straight, resulting in a notable stumble back to the fence from Cannonier who appeared to have some trouble with the Arizonian’s striking in that frame.
Uncorking a massive check right hook, Cannonier dropped Gastelum early in the third round, before going mere millimeters wide with an immediate high-kick. Tremendous recovery from Gasteum from that shot who managed to close out the remainder of the round with some good strikes of his own.
Another very competitive round between the two with Cannonier still not appearing overly comfortable dealing with what he receives back from Gastelum ahead of the fifth and final round.
A lot of pressure in that fifth and final frame from Gastelum as has been his calling card throughout this fight, with Cannonier attempting to set up his shots from the fence whilst circling.
Catch the highlights from Cannonier’s victory over Gastelum below.
@KelvinGastelum starting to find his range in the 2nd! #UFCVegas34 pic.twitter.com/EOeTyDgYeK
— UFC (@ufc) August 22, 2021
