Israel Adesanya vs. Jared Cannonier official for UFC 276 on July 2 in Las Vegas

Israel Adesanya is all set to defend his undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight title against Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 on July 2 from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The promotion officially announced the booking during the broadcast of UFC 274. Rumors had already surfaced of Cannonier being Adesanya’s next challenger, but now we know for sure.

Adesanya, 32, has racked off four-straight title defenses while climbing the pound-for-pound ranks. The fighter known as “Last Stylebender” has been unstoppable at the middleweight level since his UFC debut back in 2018 and has quickly become one of the most popular fighters in the sport. It will be interesting to see how the world-class striker handles the punching power of “Killa Gorilla” as he tries to further cement his middleweight legacy.

Cannonier, 38, is coming off an impressive main event knockout over middleweight veteran Derek Brunson. “Killa Gorilla” suffered a temporary setback against former division champ Robert Whittaker back in 2020, but has produced a 5-1 record since moving down to 185 pounds nearly four years ago. This may be Cannonier’s only chance to hoist UFC gold so expect him to bring his absolute best against Adesanya.

The current UFC 276 fight card is as follows:

Israel Adesanya vs. Jared Cannonier
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway
Sean Strickland vs. Alex Pereira
Lauren Murphy vs. Miesha Tate
Pedro Munhoz vs. Sean O’Malley
Uriah Hall vs. Andre Muniz
Jessica Eye vs. Maycee Barber
Brad Tavares vs. Dricus Du Plessis
Robbie Lawler vs. Bryan Barberena

Stick with Mania for more UFC 276 fight card news.