Michael “Venom” Web page nonetheless has designs on returning to welterweight however he earned a second straight win at middleweight after taking out a former title challenger in Jared Cannonier at UFC 319 on Saturday.
The primary two rounds noticed Web page show his signature putting assault as he dropped Cannonier a number of instances and stored him annoyed with none actual option to counter the assaults coming at him. It wasn’t till the third spherical when Web page bought a bit of too aggressive and Cannonier ended up on high the place it appeared he would possibly pull off a late comeback.
In the end, Web page survived the barrage on the canvas and secured the win with 29-28 scorecards throughout the board.
“I wished to push it a bit of bit extra on the third spherical,” Web page stated in regards to the mistake that ended with him on his again. “He’s bloody sturdy on high. It wasn’t what I anticipated however I hope you guys loved this. I nonetheless have loads of ideas at 170. If there’s nice fights like that available, you’ll see me right here once more.”
Working from the skin, Web page was stabbing at Cannonier with kicks however the one-time middleweight title challenger finally labored his approach contained in the seize onto the clinch. Web page finally shrugged him off to reset within the heart of the cage earlier than uncorked a large proper hand that despatched Cannonier crashing to the canvas.
The flash knockdown noticed Web page taunting Cannonier as he bought again to his toes with the raucous Chicago crowd clearly on his facet. Undeterred by the momentum going in opposition to him, Cannonier moved again to the clinch to attempt to decelerate Web page as time expired within the opening spherical.
Web page unleashed one other dynamic mixture that noticed Cannonier stagger backwards and stumble to the canvas, though he was fast to his toes once more. Nonetheless, Web page’s pace and number of strikes have been giving Cannonier some severe issues with none actual capacity to threaten the previous Bellator standout.
In return, Cannonier simply couldn’t do a lot to harm Web page and as an alternative he repeatedly appeared to decelerate his flashy opponent by urgent him in opposition to the cage with out doing a lot else.
With 5 minutes remaining, Web page made his first actual mistake when he bought extra aggressive coming after Cannonier and that led to a slip earlier than a takedown put him on the bottom. Cannonier wasted no time muscling his approach into the mount earlier than settling into the half-guard with Web page caught enjoying protection on the underside.
Cannonier began trying to find submissions, first a kimura try after which an arm-triangle choke however Web page stored discovering a option to slip free. As time was working brief, Cannonier started hammering away with inside punches and elbows and Web page was simply caught beneath him with out a lot probability for an escape.
Nonetheless, Cannonier’s late surge was a bit of late to make a distinction on the scorecards with Web page doing sufficient by way of the primary two rounds to get the win.
As a lot as he needs to finally return to welterweight, Web page has discovered new life at 185 kilos and there are some very attention-grabbing challenges awaiting him if he stays within the division. He’s now 2-0 at middleweight and certain surging in direction of a high 10 rating within the close to future.
