Jared Cannonier has seldom failed to raise the entropy of the fight fans during his fights. Even though he is now 40 years old, the middleweight mixed artist hasn’t stopped giving his best inside the MMA cage. He proved his strength when he defeated the likes of Sean Strickland and Marvin Vettori. However, Cannonier’s personal life is something that many fight fans don’t know about.

Today, let’s take a deep dive and find out everything about ‘The Killa Gorilla’s roots. So, without any further ado, let’s get right into it!

What is Jared Cannonier’s ethnicity and nationality? 

Jared Cannonier was born on the 16th of March, 1984, in Dallas. However, proud American mixed martial artist has quite some links to Alaska. But now, ‘The Killa Gorilla’ resides in ‘The Grand Canyon State’, Arizona. With a professional MMA record of 17 wins and 7 defeats, Cannonier fights out of Alaska, even though he trains at the MMA Lab, a gym located in Glendale, Arizona. 

‘The Killa Gorilla’ kickstarted his career in professional fighting, back in 2011. He was just 27 years old when he secured his first professional win at the Alaska Regional championship. He became the heavyweight champion at the Alaska Fighting Championship by defeating Tony Lopez in 2014. But as soon as he entered the Ultimate Fighting Championship against Shawn Jordan, the Arizona resident faced his first-ever defeat as a professional MMA athlete. Now, he is on a 1-fight losing streak and is desperately trying to overturn the streak.

Have you ever wondered what Cannonier did before he found his way to professional fighting? Well, he worked for the government. Talking to the UFC, ‘The Killa Gorilla’ said, “I was a federal employee for the FAA as an airway transportation systems specialist.” But before he entered the realm of the Federal Aviation Administration, Cannonier was in the US Army. Unfortunately, he got expelled when he tested positive for marijuana.

But where do Cannonier’s religious beliefs lie? Let’s find out!

Which religion does Jared Cannonier follow?

‘The Killa Gorilla’ was raised as a Baptist Christian. However, his religious beliefs seem to point to Judaism. Over the past 9 years, the middleweight has developed a habit of holding up a tallit after his victories. A tallit is a fringed shawl, with the ends knotted in what’s called a tzitzit. Jewish men often put these shawls over themselves during morning prayers. But Cannonier’s tallit is special in a way that it has ‘God’ emblazoned on it in Hebrew. 

In an interview back in 2017, ‘The Killa Gorilla’ opened up on the act of him lifting up the tallit. He said, “I believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The [Jewish prayer shawl] is what I use as a tool to remind me that God is my father, that I follow his commandments, and it helps me keep myself in check.” He further added, “I believe in my heart that ‘Yehovah’ (the God of Israel) is real and he has blessed me with the ability to do this and many other things, so I’m gonna keep doing this.”

Cannonier is now set to face Caio Borralho in the main event of UFC Vegas 96. Needless to say, he is going to try his best and raise the tallit after defeating Borralho. However, the outcome of the fight is something that the entire fighting community shall wait for.

Who do you think will win the main event at UFC Vegas 96? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.