Israel Adesanya Fends off Jared Cannonier to Retain Championship at UFC 276

Returning to Las Vegas for its 10th annual International Fight Week, the UFC put together a stacked fight card for UFC 276 at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada. Headlining the event were the championship bouts between Middleweights Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier, and Featherweights Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway.

Amidst growing animosity between champion Adesanya and challenger Cannonier, the two faced off in a five-round bout that ended up going the distance. Cannonier came on strong and determined throughout the fight, but could not get past the champion's striking and takedown defense. Ultimately, Adesanya held off the challenger to pull off a Unanimous Decision victory (49–46, 49–46, 50–45) to retain his title after five rounds.

Earlier in the night Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway stepped into the Octagon for the third time, with Holloway looking to secure the Featherweight title from the Australian champion once again. Despite competitive rounds between the two, Volkanovski was too fast for the Hawaiian challenger. Landing substantially more and holding him at bay for five rounds for the Unanimous Decision victory (50–45, 50–45, 50–45).

Before the main events, Middleweight Championship hopefuls Alex Pereira and Sean Strickland went up against one another, with the rising Pereira landing a knockout victory in the very first round. While Welterweight Bryan Barberena defeated MMA veteran Robbie Lawler via TKO in the second round and the Bantamweight fight between Pedro Munhoz and Sean O'Malley saw a No Contest end due to an accidental eye poke by O'Malley.

In case you missed it, Drake FaceTime'd Israel Adesanya confirming his $1 million USD bet for UFC 276.