Who won the UFC fight last night (2nd July 2022)?

Israel Adesanya notched his fifth title defense following a convincing performance against Jared Cannonier in the main event of UFC 276.

After five rounds, all three judges ruled in favor of 'The Last Stylebender,' giving him scores of 49-46, 50-45, and 49-46. Adesanya is now on a three-fight winning streak, keeping his undefeated UFC middleweight record intact at 12-0.

During his post-fight interview, Adesanya called out Alex Pereira, his longtime rival and presumably the next middleweight title challenger. Pereira, of course, is famous for being the only man to hold a knockout win over the UFC's reigning 185-pound kingpin, albeit in the sport of kickboxing.

The co-main event saw a masterful performance from Alexander Volkanovski, who finally earned a decisive win over his rival Max Holloway. The Australian was too fast, strong, and sharp for Holloway, who was overwhelmed by Volkanovksi's volume and power.

All three judges were on the same page, scoring the bout 50-45 in favor of the champion. Volkanovski is now 3-0 against Holloway and is looking to move up to lightweight in search of a new challenge.

Meanwhile, the middleweight division appears to have crowned a new No.1 contender after Alex Pereira brutally knocked out No.4-ranked Sean Strickland. Previously unranked, the Brazilian knocked off Strickland, who was on a six-fight hot streak.

In a battle of veteran welterweights, Bryan Barberena defeated former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler with a vicious technical knockout finish. 'Bam Bam' is now on a three-fight win streak, having defeated Matt Brown and Darian Weeks in his previous outings.

Finally, UFC 276 kickstarted with an unusual conclusion to the main card curtain-jerker. Sean O'Malley vs. Pedro Munhoz ended in a no-contest after the latter was hit by an unintentional eye poke in round two.

UFC 276 card and results

Israel Adesanya (c) def. Jared Cannonier via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 50-45)

Alexander Volkanovski (c) def. Max Holloway via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)

Dricus Du Plessis def. Brad Tavares via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

About the author

Writing out of the red corner from the Philippines, Rafael has been entrenched in the world of mixed martial arts for the past five years.

He kickstarted his journalistic career with Rappler.com and had continued covering the world's most violent sport for the newspaper Manila Bulletin. He joined Sportskeeda MMA in 2021 and has garnered over 9 million reads.

The combat journalist is also a television sports reporter for the Manila-based network PTV 4.

In his spare time, Rafael trains in boxing and has sparred with MMA pros Rabin Catalan and John Tirona (he obviously got obliterated).

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