Preview: UFC on ESPN 47 ‘Vettori vs. Cannonier’

The usual mix of entertaining action and middling stakes will greet the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to the UFC Apex, where UFC on ESPN 47 goes down this Saturday in Las Vegas. Former middleweight title contenders look to hold serve in the main event, as Marvin Vettori and Jared Cannonier pursue a strong performance that could them right back in the championship picture at 185 pounds. The co-headliner sees top lightweight Arman Tsarukyan stay busy against Joaquim Silva in a sneakily risky pairing. Otherwise, it is all about fireworks and the potential race for a knockout, with Armen Petrosyan facing Christian Leroy Duncan at middleweights and Manuel Torres locking horns with Nikolas Motta at lightweight.

Now to the UFC on ESPN 47 “Vettori vs. Cannonier” preview:

Middleweights

#3 MW | Marvin Vettori (19-6-1, 9-4-1 UFC) vs. #4 MW | Jared Cannonier (16-6, 9-6 UFC)

ODDS: Vettori (-115), Cannonier (-105)

It is good to see an obvious matchup get made, as Vettori and Cannonier are both clearly locked out of the middleweight title picture at the moment but remain among the handful of top 185-pound fighters in the UFC. The current leading man of Italian mixed martial arts, Vettori came to the UFC in 2016 as an obvious talent who was all potential and little else. It was not until after a 2018 loss to current champ Israel Adesanya that “The Italian Dream” seemed to fully lock into the pressure-heavy style that has marked most of his UFC career. As one of the most durable fighters in the sport, Vettori eventually learned to leverage his ability to take a shot into constant aggression. That approach came with some clear drawbacks. Vettori’s relatively meat-and-potatoes style meant he rarely caught opponents by surprise enough to score a finish, and he has never been much of a defensive mastermind. Still, opponents did not have much answer for Vettori’s persistence up until the point that he was fighting for the title in a rematch against Adesanya. The City Kickboxing star outmaneuvered Vettori without much issue for a one-sided win that was much clearer than their first bout. While the Italian rebounded with a win over Paulo Costa, a September matchup against Robert Whittaker ended with Vettori getting taken apart in a similar fashion. So for the first time since he has become a middleweight of note, Vettori has apparently decided to evolve. Faced with a similarly durable brute in Roman Dolidze in March, Vettori ceded pressure and looked to pick his spots from range. It was not the cleanest win, but it was an impressive bit of business for someone clearly fighting against type; and for a fighter still on the right side of 30 years old, it does raise some hope once again that Vettori can find his way to the title as other top middleweights age out of contention.

As for Cannonier, it appears any evolution in his game is unlikely going forward, but the 39-year-old is enough of an athlete to remain a fearsome force in the division for the next few years. “The Killa Gorilla” was a thoroughly unmemorable fighter for the first few years of his UFC career, first as an undersized heavyweight and then as a perfectly fine light heavyweight. Once Cannonier cut down to middleweight for his 2018 bout against David Branch, it became apparent that he was an entirely new fighter. Beyond looking absolutely shredded cosmetically, Cannonier overpowered a stout former contender and knocked Branch out shortly into the second round. Cannonier enjoyed a breakout 2019 campaign that saw him blow through Anderson Silva and Jack Hermansson. However, Cannonier subsequently found himself hitting the same ceiling as Vettori, only in reverse order. Whittaker outmaneuvered Cannonier in the MMA Lab product’s lone bout of 2020, and his subsequent rise to contention culminated in him getting little done against Adesanya in a five-round slog. Cannonier remained his dangerous if overly patient self as he eked out a win over Sean Strickland in December, leaving him to potentially hold serve against Vettori in this assignment. Vettori’s win over Dolidze was a huge proof of concept that should pay dividends against a similar threat. Cannonier is capable of destroying even the most durable opponent in close quarters, and Vettori’s performances prior to the Dolidze fight displayed a fighter who had few other options than to meet Cannonier head-on. The concern? Even if Vettori puts in another surprisingly clear performance, Cannonier’s few moments of success might be enough to win rounds on their own. However, with Vettori’s historical durability, the bet is that he can bounce back from any moments of adversity and skate by with a win. The pick is Vettori via decision.

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Vettori vs. Cannonier
Tsarukyan vs. Silva
Duncan vs. Petrosyan
Sabatini vs. Almeida
Torres vs. Motta
Salikhov vs. Dalby
The Prelims