Following his loss to Robert Whittaker at UFC 254, Jared Cannonier expects to still be one strike away from punching his ticket to a world title shot.
In the UFC 254 build-up, Jared Cannonier was hyped as the next man to challenge Israel Adesanya for the UFC middleweight championship. There’s just one catch. He had to beat the former middleweight champion and #13-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Robert Whittaker. That’s all. As it happens, putting the Reaper to sleep isn’t the easiest of tasks, as it was Whittaker who got his hand raised in the end, leaving Cannonier in a precarious position in the middleweight title picture.
Even Israel Adesanya targeted Jared Cannonier as his next opponent if he were to get past Whittaker, so when Cannonier lost, Adesanya promptly made plans to exit the division and chase a second title instead. But even though the middleweight division has moved on from a Jared Cannonier title shot, The Killa Gorilla is saying, Not so fast. I’m still here, and when I return, I’ll be right where I left off.
“I expect when I come back to be in a position right where I was,” Cannonier told MMA Junkie of his future plans “You know what I’m saying? Right where I left off, one more fight earns me a title shot. Again, that’s the goal, to get that title belt. That belts going to be mine. This is only a bump in the road – a speed bump that I went over a little too fast maybe.”
Jared Cannonier promises that we’ll see a better version of himself whenever he makes his return from his left arm surgery following a fractured ulna. And even though Cannonier is particular about his proximity to a world title shot, he is easy when it comes to what name will be placed next to his when he returns.
“Of course (Paulo) Costa, Darren Till, all those guys – all those top 10 guys who are making moves to get into the position to get a shot at the title,” Cannonier said. “Like you said, Darren Till (or) (Derek) Brunson. Uriah Hall is in there. He just had a pretty good win. I just saw he’s been scheduled to fight Chris Weidman. That’s definitely a fight that will get him there. It will definitely get Weidman back in the direction of the title, as well. So, there are a lot of things happening. It’s unfortunate that I’m in the position I am where I have to take a step back yet again. Luckily, this isn’t going to be as long of a recovery.”
Do you think Jared Cannonier should have a #1-contender fight when he returns to action?
