Two of the Top 5 middleweights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship will do battle when Marvin Vettori takes on Jared Cannonier in the UFC on ESPN 47 main event this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Stakes are high on both sides.
Vettori has rattled off seven victories across his past nine outings. The former Venator Fighting Championship titleholder last fought at UFC 286, where he outpointed Roman Dolidze to a unanimous decision in their three-round March 18 encounter. Cannonier, meanwhile, has won six times in eight appearances. The MMA Lab product last competed on Dec. 17, when he eked out a contentious split decision over Sean Strickland in their UFC Fight Night 216 headliner.
As Vettori and Cannonier approach their forthcoming confrontation at 185 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
29: Years of age for Vettori, who was born on Sept. 20, 1993 in Trento, Italy.
9: Vettori victories by submission, accounting for 47% of his career total (19). His methods of choice: four rear-naked chokes, three guillotine chokes, one triangle choke and one toe hold. Vettori owns two other victories by knockout or technical knockout (11%) and eight more by decision (42%).
1,216: Total strikes landed by Vettori as a UFC middleweight, placing him sixth on the promotion’s all-time list at 185 pounds. Only Chris Leben (1,791), Michael Bisping (1,654), Chael Sonnen (1,300), Krzysztof Jotko (1,257) and Kevin Holland (1,219) have been credited with more.
5: Countries in which Vettori has plied his mixed martial arts trade. He has gone 8-3-1 in the United States, 7-1 in his native Italy, 3-1 in England, 1-0 in Croatia and 0-1 in France.
.826: Cumulative winning percentage between the five opponents—Israel Adesanya (twice), Robert Whittaker, Antonio Carlos Jr., Bill Beaumont and Alessandro Grandis—who have beaten Vettori. They sport a combined record of 73-15-1.
39: Years of age for Cannonier, who was born in Dallas on March, 16, 1984.
10: Cannonier wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 63% of his career total (16). His list of UFC victims: Derek Brunson, Jack Hermansson, Anderson Silva, David Branch, Nick Roehrick and Cyril Asker. Cannonier holds two other wins by submission (12%) and four more by decision (25%).
29: Seconds needed for Cannonier to punch Matt Herringshaw into submission at an Alaska Cage Fighting show on Oct. 28, 2011. More than 11 years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
38: Rounds completed by Cannonier as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on eight different occasions and carries a 4-4 record in those bouts.
141: Combined victories between the six opponents—Adesanya, Whittaker, Dominick Reyes, Jan Blachowicz, Glover Teixeira and Shawn Jordan—who have defeated Cannonier. They boast a cumulative .782 winning percentage at 141-39-1.
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