2022 comes to a dramatic close for MMA fans with the UFC Fight Night 216. Alternatively billed as UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland, it gives us a chance to see two excellent fighters in the main event while there’s a series of other, lesser fights on the card that you might want to watch too.
Since the UFC’s success is good news for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, what do you need to know about this fight?
The Basic Details of the Main Event
This night of UFC action is scheduled to take place on December 17, with the setting of the UFC Apex center in Enterprise, Nevada. The key battle will be in the UFC Middleweight Championship fight between Jared Cannonier and Sean Strickland, who were meant to have faced each other in UFC Fight Night 212, in October this year. That meeting was scrapped when Strickland had to pull out with an infected finger.
Cannonier is currently number three in the rankings, with 15 wins from 21 bouts to his name. His last outing came in July, when he lost to a unanimous decision in his fight against Israel Adesanya with the UFC Middleweight Championship at stake. Born in Texas, Cannonier started his career in Alaska, winning his first seven fights before being knocked out in the first round of his UFC debut by Shawn Jordan. He’s put together good career numbers since then, with ten of his 15 UFC wins coming by knockout.
As for Strickland, this fighter is sitting at number seven in the UFC middleweight rankings just now. A former King of the Cage champion, he’s got 25 wins from 29 MMA fights to date. The last time we saw him, Strickland suffered one of his rare losses, with a first-round knockout giving the win to Alex Pereira in UFC 276, in July. After a difficult upbringing in California, Strickland turned pro at the age of 16 and was 9-0 in King of the Cage before being signed up by UFC.
Ten of his UFC wins have been by knockout and 11 were won by getting a decision in his favor. His recent success is even more remarkable when we recall that he was knocked unconscious in a traffic accident in 2018. He had to take two years out from fighting while recovering from his injuries.
Who Is Expected to Win?
With both Cannonier and Strickland having strong records in MMA, opinions are divided in terms of who should win. According to Bovada’s mma betting odds, we can see that Cannonier is at -105 while Strickland has odds of -115. This means that for many people it’s an extremely well-matched fight between two athletes of a similar ability.
You can also find the latest odds for the other fights we’ve looked at, with Amir Albazi at -500 and Alessandro Costa at +335, for example. These numbers let us see at a glance who is considered to be the favorite in each of the upcoming fights. This is something that isn’t always obvious when we just look at each fighter’s past record of wins and losses.
Other Fights on the Card
As usual with big UFC fight nights, there’s a main card and then a supporting card. Behind Cannonier vs Strickland on the main card, we can see Arman Tsarukyan vs Damir Ismagulov. Looking at Tsarukyan first, the Armenian-Russian fighter is ranked number nine in the lightweight category, with a record of 18 wins in 21 fights. Ismagulov is ranked 12th thanks to an impressive record of 24 wins from 25 pro fights so far.
Amir Albazi vs Alessandro Costa is another battle high on the main card. This flyweight bout sees number eight fighter Albazi look for the 16th win of his career, with just a single loss to blemish his record. Costa has just 13 fights in his pro career, with 11 of them ending in wins for the Brazilian.
The preliminary card may give fans their first chance to see some lesser-known, upcoming fighters. For example, it’s topped by the women’s strawweight bout between Cheyanne Vlismas and Cory McKenna. Florida-born Vlismas has seven wins from nine fights, while Welsh fighter McKenna has built up a similar record in her nine MMA fights to date.
Other Big Fights on the Horizon in 2022
Looking further ahead, the other major event we can look forward to at the end of 2022 is Bellator MMA vs Rizin 40. To be held on December 31 at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan, it will bring together a series of fighters from both promotions. The main card is topped by the featherweight bout between Patricio Pitbull and Kleber Koike Erbst, followed by the likes of A. J. McKee vs Roberto de Souza and Juan Archuleta vs Soo Chul Kim.
The bout between Jared Cannonier and Sean Strickland gives MMA fans something to look forward to at the end of the year. But there are plenty of other fights to look forward to, before we start turning our attention to the huge battles in 2023. Like a possible match-up between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler that could see McGregor get another shot at the title.
