You can’t blame Jared Cannonier for grabbing for the brass ring. The light heavyweight from Alaska accepted a huge jump in competition to meet veteran Glover Teixeira on the main card of UFC 208 on Saturday night in Brooklyn.
But it didn’t take long for the disparity in experience to show. Teixeira took Cannonier down early and often en route to a one-sided victory at the Barclays Center. The judges’ scores were 30-26 across the board for a unanimous decision.
Cannonier, a heavy hitter with seven stoppages among his nine career victories, showed a flash of his potential in the closing seconds of the opening round, as he wobbled Teixeira with a combo.
But beyond that, he wasn’t able to show much, as Teixeira scored takedowns early in each of the first three rounds and dominated things from top position.
Teixeira (26-3) got back into the win column after his quick knockout loss to Anthony Johnson last summer. It was his fourth victory in his past five fights. Cannonier dropped to 9-2 and had a two-fight win streak snapped.
“This guy’s a tough dude,” Teixeira said. “I hurt my right shoulder a couple weeks before the fight and the game plan was to get him to the ground. I need to step up my game.”