Jared Cannonier went into UFC 237 with a gameplan to batter Anderson Silva with leg kicks, and that paid off as a knee injury ended the fight in the first round.
Jared Cannonier came into the UFC as a heavyweight with a 7-0 record. After going 1-1 at the weight class in the Octagon, “The Killa Gorilla” dropped to light heavyweight. He went 2-3 at 205, falling to Jan Blachowicz and Dominick Reyes consecutively to prompt a move further down to middleweight. He entered the division with a huge KO win over David Branch.
Anderson Silva is returning home at UFC 237. The greatest middleweight of all time returned from a two-year layoff to battle Israel Adesanya in February. Silva was defeated and has just one win since 2012. “The Spider” owns the record for longest win streak in the promotion, with 16-straight victories.
Jared Cannonier had Octagon control in the first round, forcing Silva to the cage several times. He landed a solid number of leg kicks and even landed a few overhand rights against the cage as Silva was fairly tentative in the first, landing a couple of body kicks. The leg kicks did a number on Silva, and one big one in the waning moments of the round that caused the legend to buckle. Silva went down and with a cry of pain, the fight was stopped.
Anderson Silva revealed in his post-fight interview that his knee was giving him issues during camp, and that issue was exploited by Cannonier’s leg kick-heavy gameplan.
Jared Cannonier def. Anderson Silva by TKO (Leg Kick) in Round 1 (4:47)
