Jared Cannonier

Overview

Seven knockout wins in the UFC, zero submissions, and not one of the four decision wins came on a short night.

Jared Cannonier, "Tha Killa Gorilla," fights at middleweight and holds an 11-10 UFC record. His 18-10-0 professional record includes fights outside the UFC. What defines the UFC numbers is the split: all seven of his finishes are KO/TKOs, and ten of his 21 UFC fights ended in a loss. He carries a two-fight losing streak into his next fight.

Hard hitter, long résumé, uneven results. That's the whole story.

UFC Career

Cannonier debuted at UFC 182 with a first-round TKO loss to Shawn Jordan. His first UFC win came more than a year later, a first-round stoppage of Cyril Asker in April 2016. A decision win over Ion Cutelaba and a third-round TKO of Nick Roehrick followed, but the early run was choppy. Decision losses to Glover Teixeira and Jan Blachowicz, plus a first-round knockout loss to Dominick Reyes, left him at 3-4.

Then came his best stretch: David Branch in 39 seconds of round two, Anderson Silva at 4:47 of round one, and Jack Hermansson in 27 seconds of round two in a main event. Three straight finishes, his longest UFC win streak.

Robert Whittaker ended it with a unanimous decision, but Cannonier came back with a five-round decision over Kelvin Gastelum and a second-round TKO of Derek Brunson. He then main-evented against Israel Adesanya and lost a five-round unanimous decision. He followed that with five-round main-event wins over Sean Strickland (split decision) and Marvin Vettori.

The recent run is rougher. Nassourdine Imavov stopped him in round four, and Caio Borralho beat him over five rounds. A fourth-round TKO of Gregory Rodrigues in February 2025 interrupted the slide, but unanimous decisions to Michael Venom Page and Christian Leroy Duncan followed.

He has main-evented again and again, and that has only sharpened the contrast between his best nights and his worst.

Fighting Style

Cannonier is a busy striker who is hard to hit. He lands more strikes per minute than the UFC average and defends them well, while the strikes he absorbs and his accuracy sit right around the middle.

Wrestling barely enters his game. He rarely shoots for takedowns and seldom hunts for submissions, but he is very hard to take down, which keeps fights standing. That fits his win column: seven KO/TKOs, no submissions, and four decisions.

His finishes come at every stage of a fight. Two ended in round one, three in round two, one in round three and one in round four, so the damage isn't confined to the early minutes. Of his ten UFC losses, seven went to the judges and the other three were stoppages by KO/TKO.

Notable Wins

• Anderson Silva: KO/TKO, round 1 (4:47), UFC 237 (2019)
• Jack Hermansson: KO/TKO, round 2 (0:27), main event, UFC Fight Night (2019)
• Derek Brunson: KO/TKO, round 2 (4:29), UFC 271 (2022)
• Sean Strickland: split decision, round 5, main event, UFC Fight Night (2022)

Quick Facts

• Division: Middleweight
• UFC record: 11-10 (7 KO/TKO wins, 4 decision wins)
• Professional record (all promotions): 18-10-0
• UFC debut: 2015
• Stance: Switch
• Height / reach: 5'11" / 77.5"
• Team: ABJJ + Gracie Barra Alaska
• Born: Dallas, United States