Despite being troubled very early on in the UFC Vegas 102 main event, Jared Cannonier pulled off a major comeback to score a fourth-round finish of Gregory Rodrigues.
"Robocop" brought the power from the opening round, dropping "The Killa Gorilla" twice with a couple of solid shots. Cannonier, however, managed to score a takedown late in the round, trying to steal momentum.
Rodrigues continued to land solid strikes during the second round but his pace began to slow. The former title challenger, meanwhile, took advantage by picking up his own striking. He continued this output in the third, and emphasized his dominance with a late elbow that knocked "Robocop" down. Cannonier then threw some heavy ground-and-pound, nearly scoring the finish.
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Jared Cannonier Rallies To Stop Gregory Rodrigues In UFC Vegas 102 Main Event
He'd find it in the fourth, however, pressuring and dominating for mere seconds before more punches folded Rodrigues.
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Cannonier stops a two-fight skid with the victory tonight. He's now 3-2 following an unsuccessful middleweight title shot against Israel Adesanya at UFC 276 -- with one of those three wins coming over another former champion in Sean Strickland.
Rodrigues, who reached the fourth round for the first time in his professional MMA career, sees a three-fight win streak snapped. He entered tonight with five wins in his previous six outings.