UFC middleweight contender Jared Cannonier spoke to Helen Yee ahead of his upcoming match against Derek Brunson. ‘The Killa Gorilla’ is looking to make a run towards title contention and build off his win against Kelvin Gastelum. Cannonier has had a rocky road thus far and hasn’t been able to have consistent, sustained success at the top of the division.
However, Cannonier has faced the who’s-who of the middleweight division and produced some memorable performances to boot. Having experience facing the upper echelon talent within the division, Cannonier was asked to provide his prediction for an upcoming title fight. Yee asked Cannonier to preview Israel Adesanya vs Robert Whittaker 2, and he had plenty of thoughts.
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“I don’t wanna say it’s going to be the same because Robert Whittaker is an exceptional martial artist. I’m sure he’s going to make the adjustments necessary to try to get his title back, or at the very least, make it a more competitive fight.”
“That fight could go either way. I like both those guys, I like both of their styles. I think Izzy has a style that would cater more to him winning, so he has a more tricky, more elusive, a more cerebral style as far as striking goes and that’s scary; to not know what you gonna get hit with when you get hit with it.”
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Jared Cannonier: Will he hold the undisputed strap?
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Cannonier’s perspective on the Adesanya vs Whittaker rematch is interesting as he’s already faced ‘The Reaper’. Cannonier fell short against Robert Whittaker in Abu Dhabi at UFC 254 and he had to work his way back from there. Whittaker is looked at as the second-best middleweight after Adesanya and he’s proven that time and again.
Cannonier will need a statement-making performance against Brunson to show that he’s next in line. The 37-year-old veteran in Brunson has had a career resurgence and is now on a five-fight win streak in the division. He has handily taken care of several up-and-coming talents and he’ll be motivated to send Cannonier packing.
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‘The Killa Gorilla’ possesses nearly unrivaled power and explosiveness, however, his takedown defense will have to make the deficit when he faces Brunson.
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