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The dull and dusty APEX facility in Las Vegas is once again the setting chosen by the world’s premiere MMA league as we embark on UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Cannonier this Saturday (June 18th) night. Top-5 middleweights Marvin Vettori and Jared Cannonier will collide in the marquee matchup of the evening, and with the former 185-pound champ Alex Pereira moving up to 205-pounds, this bout is essentially for the #2 spot in the division.
So at middleweight right now there’s the current champion Israel Adesanya, Bobby Knuckles/Robert Whittaker right behind him, and then there’s the #3 ranked Vettori and the #4 ranked Cannonier. In recent memory, Marvin has only lost to Adesanya and Whittaker, and the exact same thing holds true for Jared. In terms of succession to the belt, if Whittaker is the vice president of the division, then this matchup decides who becomes the Speaker of the House, and who settles for the President Pro Temp.
The co-main event of the evening should be a ton of fun when the UFC’s #8 ranked lightweight, Arman Tsarukyan, mixes it up with ‘Neto BJJ’ himself, Joaquim Silva. Tsarukyan has won six of his last seven, having only lost a razor-thin decision to Mateusz Gamrot las June. Silva is always dangerous, and he’s had four fights in a row end inside the distance. That includes his fantastic flying knee knockout of Jesse Ronson last October at the UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Yan event. This should amount to a good ol’ fashioned banger, both on the feet and in the grappling exchanges.
Marvin Vettori vs Jared Cannonier Fight Date, Start Time
Date: Saturday, June 17
Time: 10 p.m. ET / 3 a.m. BST
Main event cagewalks (approx): 1 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. BST
The main card is set to get underway at 10 p.m. ET / 3 a.m. BST with the main event cagewalks scheduled for 1 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. BST. These timings could change due to the length of the undercard fights.
Marvin Vettori vs Jared Cannonier Fight Card
Main Card
Marvin Vettori vs Jared Cannonier; Middleweight
Arman Tsarukyan vs Joaquim Silva; Lightweight
Armen Petrosyan vs Christian Leroy Duncan; Middleweight
Pat Sabatini vs Lucas Almeida; Featherweight
Mauel Torres vs Nikolas Motta; Lightweight
Raoni Barcelos vs Miles Johns; Bantamweight
Prelims
Nicolas Dalby vs. Muslim Salikhov; Welterweight
Jimmy Flick vs Alessandro Costa; Flyweight
Kang Kyung-ho vs Alessandro Costa; Flyweight
Carlos Hernandez vs Denys Bondar; Flyweight
Zhalgas Zhumagulov vs Felipe Bunes; Flyweight
Tereza Bleda vs Gabriella Fernandes; Women’s flyweight
Dan Argueta vs Ronnie Lawrence; Bantamweight
Zac Pauga vs Modestas Bukauskas; Light heavyweight
Recent Results
Both fighters are very evenly matched and have 3-2 records in their last five fights, making our predictions more difficult. With such an unpredictable bout, fans are often drawn to bet on UFC fights in order to have a shot at a win-win situation.
Marvin Vettori won his most recent fight, defeating Roman Dolidze vis decision at UFC 286 on March 18th, 2023.
Jared Cannonier won his last fight, a close split decision over Sean Strickland, in a UFC Fight Night main event on December 17th, 2022.
Marvin Vettori vs Jared Cannonier Betting Analysis
Marvin Vettori
Southpaw Vettori lands 4.38 strikes per minute, with a 44% striking accuracy. Defensively, Vettori absorbs 3.65 strikes per minute and has a 59% striking defense efficiency.
In the grappling game, Vettori averages 1.77 takedowns per 15 minutes of fighting, with a 44% takedown accuracy, averaging 0.5 submissions per 15 minutes.
Of Vettori’s 19 career wins, nine have been by submission, while having two TKO stoppage finishes, both from his pre-UFC career.
Jared Cannonier
Cannonier lands 4.00 strikes per minute but with an impressive 50% striking accuracy. Conversely, Cannonier averages 3.86 strikes absorbed per minute, operating at 61% defensive efficiency.
Cannonier has landed 25% of his takedown attempts, averaging 0.17 takedowns per 15 minutes, while having never landed a submission in his UFC career and having a 64% takedown defense.
Key Injuries
There were no updates for this fight as of publication. However, like most UFC events, there’s always a chance for things to change due to injury or a bad weight cut. As such, we recommend checking both fighters’ news and status throughout the fight week.
Marvin Vettori vs Jared Cannonier Betting Preview
Vettori has to do significant work in the Middleweight division to earn another shot at Adesanya, having lost to him twice in his career. Three of Vettori’s four UFC losses have come to former Middleweight Champions Asesanya and Robert Whittaker.
Vettori has alternated wins and losses in his last five fights, with both losses coming to former Middleweight champions. Cannonier has won three of his last four fights, losing his title challenge against Adesanya.
Cannonier and Vettori’s last two losses have come to the same two fighters: Israel Adesanya and Robert Whitaker.
There isn’t much to delineate both fighters from each other, although we favor Vettori in the submission game when the fight goes to the mat or against the cage. We’re also expecting Vettori to outstrike Cannonier slightly.
Marvin Vettori vs Jared Cannonier Betting Prediction
Our Vettori vs Cannonier prediction is to take Marvin Vettori to win on Saturday night.
Both fighters have proved to be durable throughout their careers, with only Cannonier being stopped in his career. As such, we’re expecting this fight to see the judge’s scorecard and take over 4.5 rounds.