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There’s a new contender at middleweight, and it’s former heavyweight Jared Cannonier.
UFC middleweight contender Jared Cannonier once again played the role of crowd silencer, and his rise up the division continues thanks to his upset win over Jack Hermansson.
In the UFC Copenhagen main event, Cannonier stopped fellow contender Jack Hermansson early in round two to improve his record to 3-0 at 185 lbs. Hermansson started well, but Cannonier steadily took over behind lethal low kicks, improved takedown defense, and an effective jab. His success in the back-half of round one carried over into round two, where he scored a knockdown and eventual TKO of the Swede (who competes out of Norway). Much like when Cannonier beat Anderson Silva in Brazil, the crowd was stunned when he beat the home country fighter, but Cannonier had praise for the Danish fans in his post-fight interview, while noting he was not received as well down in Brazil.
Very little time was wasted by Hermansson, as he sought the takedown but Cannonier was able to defend it. Cannonier wasn’t so fortunate the next time, as Hermansson got the belly-to-back suplex and denied Cannonier a sweep to top position. Cannonier did get back to his feet, stuff a takedown with a whizzer, and then land an inside uppercut. Hermansson worked his low kicks and jab in the stand-up, while Cannonier was more reactive than proactive. Cannonier then got into a bit of a groove with his own kicks that slammed against the outside of Hermansson’s lead leg. The Alaskan closed the opening round quite well and looked to have the speed advantage, and the leg kicks were a real problem for Hermansson.
A hard uppercut dropped Hermansson just seconds into round two, and he would not recover. The relentlessness of Cannonier’s ground-and-pound was too much to overcome, and Marc Goddard made the call to stop the fight. Hermansson’s win streak ends at four, while Cannonier’s 100% finishing rate at 185 lb continues.
Official result: Jared Cannonier def. Jack Hermansson by TKO (punches) at :27 of round 2