Jared Cannonier

Jared Christopher Cannonier (born March 16, 1984) is an American professional mixed martial artist.

He currently fights in the Middleweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

As of September 12, 2023, he is #4 in the UFC middleweight rankings.

Cannonier began his amateur mixed martial arts career in early 2011, winning his first two fights by knockout.

In June 2011, he made his professional MMA debut in Alaska.

He fought sporadically over the next five years, amassing a record of 7–0.

In October 2014, it was announced that Cannonier had signed with the UFC.

In his debut he faced Shawn Jordan in a Heavyweight bout at UFC 182 on January 3, 2015.

He lost the fight via knockout in the first round.

Replacing injured Matt Van Buren, Cannonier was scheduled to face Jonathan Wilson at UFC Fight Night 73 on August 8, 2015.

In turn, Cannonier was forced to pull out due to an injury and was replaced by Chris Dempsey.

After an 18-month long layoff, Cannonier returned to face Cyril Asker on April 10, 2016, at UFC Fight Night: Rothwell vs. dos Santos.

He defeated Asker by knockout due to a combination of elbows and punches.

The win also earned Cannonier his first Performance of the Night bonus award.

In his third fight for the promotion, Cannonier moved down to the light heavyweight division.

He faced Ion Cuțelaba on December 3, 2016, at The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale.

Cannonier won the fight by unanimous decision.

The bout also won Cannonier his second consecutive bonus award as he and Cuțelaba won Fight of the Night.

As the first fight of his new six-fight contract, Cannonier faced Glover Teixeira on February 11, 2017, at UFC 208.

He lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Cannonier was expected to face Steve Bossé on July 7, 2017, at The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale.

However, Bossé was removed from the fight just days before the event and was replaced by promotional newcomer Nick Roehrick.

Cannonier won the fight via TKO in the third round.

Cannonier was expected to face Antônio Rogério Nogueira on December 16, 2017, at UFC on Fox 26.

However, on October 19, it was announced that Nogueira was pulled from the card after being notified by USADA of a potential doping violation.

Cannonier would face Jan B.łachowicz instead.

He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Cannonier faced Dominick Reyes on May 19, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 129.

He lost the fight via TKO in the first round.

Cannonier was expected to face Alessio Di Chirico in a middleweight bout on November 17, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 140.

However, it was reported on October 19, 2018, that Cannonier would face David Branch at UFC 230 instead.

He won the fight via technical knockout in round two.

This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.

Cannonier faced former UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva on May 11, 2019, at UFC 237.

He won the fight via TKO in the first round after a kick to Silva's right leg rendered him unable to continue.

Cannonier faced Jack Hermansson on September 28, 2019, in the main event of UFC on ESPN+ 18.

He was victorious via second-round TKO.

The win also earned Cannonier his third Performance of the Night bonus award.

Cannonier was scheduled to face former UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker on March 7, 2020, at UFC 248.

However, on January 15, 2020, it was announced Whittaker pulled out of the bout for undisclosed reasons.