Fight By Fight Preview | UFC 276: Adesanya vs Cannonier

At UFC 273 in April, Volkanovski pushed his record to 11-0 within the promotion with a lopsided fourth-round stoppage win over Chan Sung Jung, extending his winning streak to 21 overall.

All Holloway has done since dropping a pair of razor-thin decisions to Volkanovski in their back-to-back meetings at UFC 245 and UFC 251 is deliver a pair of virtuoso performances against top contenders Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez. The 30-year-old former champion suffocated both men with his hellacious pace and otherworldly volume, landing a ridiculous 675 significant strikes combined over the two 25-minute contests.

UFC 276 FREE FIGHTS: Max Holloway vs Yair Rodriguez | Israel Adesanya vs Robert Whittaker 2 | Alexander Volkanovski vs Max Holloway 2 | Jared Cannonier vs Derek Brunson | Alexander Volkanovski vs Korean Zombie

Each of their first two meetings were ultra-competitive and crazy-close, with fractions of inches separating the two elite featherweights, and now it’s time to see if anything has changed as we ready for Rounds 11-15, potentially, on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Will Volkanovski retain and banish Holloway from title contention for the foreseeable future or can “Blessed” bring the series closer, regain the featherweight throne, and potentially set up a fourth meeting between these two outstanding talents?

Sean Strickland vs. Alex Pereira

Before Adesanya and Cannonier battle for the middleweight title in the main event, Sean Strickland and Alex Pereira clash in a bout that could very well determine who will face the winner.

Strickland has been on a tear since returning from a two-year, injury-induced hiatus, collecting five straight victories to climb into the Top 5 in the middleweight rankings. The 31-year-old veteran is actually undefeated when competing in the 185-pound weight class, building a 20-0 record including victories over Brendan Allen, Uriah Hall, and Jack Hermansson.

A former two-division champion under the Glory Kickboxing shingle, Pereira has earned a pair of wins since signing with the UFC, stopping Andreas Michailidis in his promotional debut before out-working Bruno Silva over 15 minutes back in March. “Poatan” earned a pair of wins over Adesanya during their kickboxing days and has been in dogged pursuit of “The Last Stylebender” since debuting in the Octagon, confident that he’s the man to dethrone him.

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This is a great piece of matchmaking as Strickland has been lights out, but would certainly benefit from a high profile victory on this kind of stage, while Pereira can prove his legitimacy as a title challenger by halting Strickland’s winning streak and handing the brash California native his first middleweight defeat.

Pedro Munhoz vs. Sean O’Malley

Brazilian veteran Pedro Munhoz looks to get back into the win column, while Sean O’Malley faces his toughest test to date when these two ranked bantamweight standouts collide on Saturday’s pay-per-view main card.

New Zealand’s Riddell had a cup of coffee in the rankings last year, sliding into the lower third after pushing his winning streak to seven with a tenacious win over Drew Dober. It was short-lived though, as he was stopped by Rafael Fiziev in the third round of their December clash and forced to give up the number next to his name.

Turner has continued moving closer to the Top 15 with each subsequent appearance over the last two years and change, posting four victories, all by stoppage, to bring his record to 12-5 overall. A long, wiry lightweight, the 27-year-old California native has a 100-percent finishing rate and will look to maintain that in his biggest test to date in the 155-pound weight class.

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This should be an interesting clash of styles as Riddell is more of a bulldog, working well in the clinch and in close quarters, while Turner is at best working from distance, using his range to snipe at opponents before pouncing on finishes. Business is picking up in the lightweight division, and you can be sure neither of these men want to be left behind, which means they should combine for a crackerjack of a contest to close out the prelims this weekend.

Ian Garry vs. Gabe Green

It’s a clash between emerging competitors in the welterweight division as Irish prospect Ian Garry squares off with California-based finisher Gabe Green.

Billed as one of the top prospects in the sport upon arriving in the UFC from Cage Warriors, Garry impressed in his promotional debut, knocking out Jordan Williams at the close of the opening round at UFC 268 before dutifully working through a grind of a bout with Darian Weeks earlier this year. The 24-year-old remains unbeaten in his career and a work-in-progress in the cage, but the patient approach he’s taking has produced noticeable improvements each time he steps into the Octagon.

Called up on short notice in the spring of 2020 to face Daniel Rodriguez, Green lost that battle, but showed he deserved a place on the UFC roster, and since then, he’s started working forward in the welterweight division. After out-hustling Philip Rowe in February 2021, the 29-year-old athlete returned at the end of April and bounced newcomer Yohan Lainesse from the ranks of the unbeaten, finishing the previously undefeated Canadian late in the second round.

Garry still needs time to sharpen his skills before diving into the deep end of the talent pool in the 170-pound weight class, and Green is an excellent test and an experienced opponent who should push the Irishman, and could garner himself a generous bump in recognition if he were to hand “The Future” his first career loss this weekend.

Donald Cerrone vs. Jim Miller

After years of joking that Donald Cerrone and Jim Miller should face one another to determine who owns the record for the most wins in UFC history, the veteran combatants will do just that on Saturday as they square off in a welterweight matchup.

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Cerrone was slated to go a couple weeks back before Joe Lauzon’s knee gave him troubles the day of the fight, scuttling the pairing for a second time in as many months. When Bobby Green was forced out of his assignment with Miller, “Cowboy” quickly volunteered, and will look to snap his six-fight run without a victory by replicating the performance he delivered the first time these two faced off eight years ago, where he knocked out Miller in the third round.

Entering on a three-fight skid, the 35-year-old has returned to her roots in Cleveland and the Strong Style Fight Team ahead of this contest. She’s been outhustled by fellow veterans Cynthia Calvillo, Joanne Wood, and Jennifer Maia in her last three outings, and will look to use her veteran savvy and experience advantage to stem the tide and score a victory over Barber this weekend.

Dealing with some adversity and failing to come close to her goal of besting Jon Jones’ record as the youngest champion in UFC history likely did Barber a world of good, as the 24-year-old has looked her best in her last two outings. After edging out Miranda Maverick in a close contest last summer, the Team Alpha Male representative got back to her gritty, tenacious roots in a unanimous decision win over Montana De La Rosa in April.

Uriah Hall vs. Andre Muniz

Uriah Hall and Andre Muniz square off in this rescheduled clash between ranked middleweights looking to make a statement on the same night the title in their division is up for grabs.

Fighting for the first time since last July, Hall looks to get back to the form that produced four straight victories ahead of his main event loss to Strickland nearly a year ago. The Fortis MMA representative suffered a broken orbital in that contest and dealt with depression issues following the bout but has worked through the darkness and is ready to get moving forward again with a victory over Muniz on Saturday night.

A Dana White’s Contender Series graduate (Class of ’19), Muniz is a perfect 4-0 inside the Octagon, having earned each of his last three victories by way of first-round submission due to an armbar. The Brazilian grappling ace is 16-1 over his last 17 appearances and could vault himself into the thick of the chase with a dominant effort over Hall.

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These two were originally slated to compete in April before Hall was forced to withdraw for undisclosed reasons. Muniz elected to wait for the former Ultimate Fighter winner to recover, which in turn annoyed Hall, setting the stage for a tense, competitive clash early in the night at UFC 276.

Brad Tavares vs. Dricus Du Plessis

Divisional staple Brad Tavares and emerging South African Dricus Du Plessis square off in the first of Saturday’s four pivotal middleweight pairings.

Entering on a two-fight winning streak and fighting for the first time in a shade under a year, Tavares has been a permanent fixture in the 185-pound weight class since joining the roster following his appearance on Season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter. The technically sound Hawaiian has won six of his last eight dating back to 2016, and is the kind of experienced, measured fighter to serve as a veteran challenge for the up-and-coming Du Plessis this weekend.

Like Tavares, the 28-year-old Du Plessis last fought at UFC 264, registering a second-round stoppage win over Trevin Giles to collect his second UFC finish in as many starts and push his record to 16-2 overall. “Stillknocks” has won 12 of his last 13, including stopping and being stopped by Croatian standout Roberto Soldic, and will look to take a major step forward in the middleweight ranks by turning back Tavares.

This is the perfect pairing for both men at this moment, as the Xtreme Couture-based veteran could use a victory over an emerging name, while Du Plessis needs to graduate to defeating tenured fighters in order to make headway in the middleweight hierarchy.

Jessica-Rose Clark vs. Julija Stoliarenko

Business gets underway in the bantamweight division as Jessica-Rose Clark and Julija Stoliarenko look to rebound from disappointing results earlier in the year.

After returning following major knee surgery in the fall of 2021 with a victory over Joselyne Edwards, Clark landed on the wrong side of the results in the middle of February, getting tossed to the canvas and submitted by Swiss judoka Stephanie Egger. The spirited Australian fan favorite was understandably disappointed with her performance and should give a better accounting of herself this weekend.

Stoliarenko ventures into the cage on Saturday night still searching for her first UFC victory, having landed on the wrong side of the results in each of her first three appearances. Last time out, the Lithuanian battled hard with former title challenger Alexis Davis, but once again fell short, leaving her without a win since claiming the vacant Invicta FC bantamweight title in the spring of 2020.