UFC Vegas 66: Jared Cannonier Vs. Sean Strickland full results, play by play

UFC Vegas 66: Cannonier vs. Join us here at Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion and play-by-play (main event) of Cannonier as Strickland steps down from the UFC’s apex facility in Las Vegas, NV.

The fight night’s main event will be in the middleweight division, with Jared Cannonier looking to bounce back from a loss to then-champion Israel Adesanya, beating Sean Strickland and his own loss to date. Champion, Alex Pereira.

It’s an entirely ESPN+ show, with preliminary fights starting at 4pm ET/1PM PT and the main card starting at 7pm ET/4pm PT. For areas outside the US, you can catch all scheduled bouts on UFC Fight Pass.

Main Card (7 PM ET, ESPN+)

Jared Cannonier vs. Sean Strickland

Round 1

They start with the process of expressing a feeling and are not excited to engage. Strickland paws with his stick. Cannonier engages with a couple of bursts, but nothing clean. Strickland looks on. Stricklenot finds a home for his jab while finding distance and parrying Cannonier’s attacks. Strickland catches Cannonier’s kick and puts him on his back. Cannonier gets back up, but Strickland keeps his back against the cage and lands short shots before Cannonier escapes. Cannonier stalking, landing a heavy low kick. Strickland blocks a heavy shot. Cannonier looks for leg kicks and some lands. Good round, but Strickland’s exciting battle. Strickland 10-9

Round 2

Cannonier hit the first good shot to open the round. Strickland staggered Cannonier with a catch kick but didn’t follow up on the takedown. Strickland finds his jab again. Cannonier looking for heavy shots and Strickland blocking most of them, others not landing cleanly. Cannonier looks for leg kicks again. Strickland struggles to find the jab because of Cannonier’s volume. Cannonier slows down and Strickland finds a home for some punches. Strickland rushes Cannonier and lands a heavy one. Cannonier goes after Strickland, unphased. Cannonier lands a nice right to end the round. Closed circuit. Cannonier 10-9

Round 3

Strickland started playing matador again. Cannonier kicks the leg. Strickland builds momentum and turns up his volume. He slows down and Cannonier lands a body kick. Cannonier throws a lot of big shots. Strickland didn’t throw with much power, but they found their home. Cannonier finally lands a big combo, but Strickland isn’t phased. Cannonier gets another big right. Strickland starts to put some power into his shots, but Cannonier blocks most of them. Strickland lands a low kick and checks one from Cannonier. Strickland lands several punches to the head, then blocks several punches from Cannonier. Cannonier lands a left to end the round. Another close round. Strickland 10-9

Round 4

The round begins with them finding their range before the cannoneer begins to aggressively pursue. Nothing lands as Strickland dodges. They have a few even exchanges before Strickland launches a series of unanswered exchanges. Cannoneer appears to have suffered a stab wound. Strickland lands to the head with almost every punch. A heavy kick from Canaan, which seems to wake itself up. Cannonier is back on offense, but his offense is now exploding. Strickland reads this and attacks with a jab between bursts. Strickland starts to follow up with his jab. Cannonier backs up Strickland and forces Strickland to circle. Cannonier lands a heavy right, but Strickland smiles as he backs out. Strickland 10-9

Round 5

Strickland pawing with a jab. Cannonier rushes in, but Strickland dodges again. Cannonier looks for straight punches. Strickland counters, briefly stumbling Cannonier. Cannonier looks for hooks again, but doesn’t come anywhere close to landing. Strickland peppering shots. Cannonier lands a big one, but Strickland isn’t phased. Big right counter from Strickland, followed by a sound combo from Cannonier. Cannonier whiffs and Strickland counters with a big combo. Cannonier lands a heavy shot and Strickland’s nose bleeds. Cannoneer spins into a back fist. Strickland supported Cannonier with several one-twos. Strickland found his groove. Cannoneer lands a big right, follows up with a big combo. Strickland fires back with a combo and several kicks. Another close round. Strickland 10-9.

I have a Strickland 49-46 but can see a Cannoneer 48-47.

Official Result: Jared Cannonier defeated Sean Strickland by split decision (49-46 x2, 46-49)

Arman Tsarukyan def. Damir Ismakulov by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

Amir Albasi def. Alessandro Costa via TKO (punches) at 2:13 of RD3

Alex Caceres def. Julian Erosa via TKO (head kicks and punches) at 3:04 of RD1

True Tober def. Bobby Green via KO (punch) at 2:45 of RD2

Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Cody Brundage via KO (punches) at 3:16 of RD1

Preliminary Card (4 PM ET, ESPN+)

Corey McKenna def. Cheyenne Willismas via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)

Matt Semelsberger def. Jake Matthews via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2)

Nurmagomedov said def. Zaydokub Kakramonov via submission (guillotine) at 3:50 of RD2

Rafa Garcia def. Maheshed by Unanimous Decision (30-27 x3)

Rinat Fagrettinov def. Brian Battle via Unanimous Decision (30-25 x2, 30-27)

Manel Cap def. David Dvorak via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)

Sergey Morozov def. Journey Newson via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2)