Jared Cannonier vs. Israel Adesanya UFC 276 Prediction, Pick and Odds for Middleweight Championship Bout
By Reed Wallach
The gap between Israel Adesanya and the Middleweight division feels insurmountable.
Adesanya is 22-1 in his professional career, with his only loss coming to Jan Blachowicz when he moved up to Light Heavyweight. He now faces Jared Cannonier, a former Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight, in 'The Last Stylebender's' sixth title defense of the Middleweight belt.
Cannonier is in good form at the moment, winner of two straight, and has the power to challenge Adesanya, but to date, nobody has been able to make up the reach of the Australian, who possesses precise striking and outstanding grappling prowess.
Here are the odds for the Middleweight Championship fight from WynnBET Sportsbook:
Jared Cannonier vs. Israel Adesanya Odds, Total
Moneyline:
- Cannonier: +325
- Adesanya: -425
Total:
- 4.5 (Over -120/Under +100)
Jared Cannonier vs. Israel Adesanya Prediction and Pick
Adesanya's unique size for the division has made him a nearly impossible out and he does have the length advantage once again in this fight, five inches taller than Cannonier with three more inches of reach.
However, I do see some optimism for the Cannonier side. The only fighter to knock off Adesanya is a Light Heavyweight in Blachowicz, and 'The Killa Gorilla' got his start in the two weight classes heavier. He is more of a knockout artist, 10 of his 15 wins have come by KO, but Cannonier showed that he had a five round gas tank by beating Kelvin Gastelum in a main event, stuffing eight takedowns in that match.
While Adesanya is a standup striker and Cannonier hasn't been one to shoot for takedowns either, the American's ability to go five rounds and deal with different looks throughout the match is promising.
While the champion is the rightful favorite, I think there's some avenues to a victory from Cannonier if he's able to land the more damaging shots and use his size as a former Light Heavyweight and Heaveyweight to give Adesanya some issues.
He'll be the bigger man in the cage, like Blachowicz was, and this is a dog or pass spot for me.
LEAN: Cannonier ML (+325)
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