Preview: UFC 319 ‘Du Plessis vs. Chimaev’

Middleweights

Michael Page (23-3, 2-1 UFC) vs. Jared Cannonier (18-8, 11-8 UFC)

BETTING ODDS: Page (-192), Cannonier (+160)

Page remains at middleweight for the second straight fight—an interesting wrinkle in what's been an interesting UFC campaign. Page’s decade-plus career with Bellator was the subject of some derision at times, as the promotion often saw fit to have him add to his highlight reel rather than test him as a potential title contender. With that said, the Englishman mostly proved himself capable of succeeding at a high level when given the opportunity. Tall and long for both welterweight and middleweight, Page fights behind a karate-based kickboxing style that has been a tough puzzle for most opponents to solve, with his last two losses—to Logan Storley in a 2022 Bellator bout and Ian Garry in what’s currently his last welterweight fight—coming against opponents who consistently hunted for a takedown, no matter how messy. After the loss to Garry, Page outclassed Sharabutdin Magomedov in a battle of strikers that looked like a one-off move up to middleweight. Instead, he stays in the weight class for what looks like a winnable matchup against Cannonier.

Cannonier spent a few middling years in the UFC at heavyweight and light heavyweight before landing at middleweight, where he immediately looked like a brand-new fighter. Cannonier’s approach was still fairly basic, but “The Killa Gorilla” showed a frightening level of power in running over David Branch. From there, Cannonier quickly shot up to contention as a powerhouse athlete that opponents could often outmaneuver in theory but rarely in practice, losing only to championship-level fighters in the next few years. Robert Whittaker was able to temporarily halt Cannonier’s rise in 2020, while then-champion Israel Adesanya stayed at range and neutralized him in a 2022 title defense. Cannonier continued to plug along after his unsuccessful title shot until a rough 2024 that seems to have taken him permanently out of contention. Cannonier still looked decent but got outworked by Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho in some tough wars, suggesting that the division was finally catching up to him at age 40. Cannonier had another fun main event scrap against Gregory Rodrigues earlier this year, getting a much-needed win. However, this fight against Page looks like a tough assignment unless the Brit starts showing some signs of slowing down himself. Page has an impressive highlight reel, but one of his main superpowers is being completely content to play neutralizer and take the fight out of the fight, frustrating his opponents with his elusiveness until he can force them into making a mistake. It’s unclear if the second part of that equation can happen, but even if Cannonier never turns the pace up, Page should be perfectly content pecking at him for three rounds and walking away with the victory. The pick is Page via decision.

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Du Plessis vs. Chimaev
Pico vs. Murphy
Prates vs. Neal
Page vs. Cannonier
Asakura vs. Elliott
The Prelims