Cannonier Wants Whittaker Matchup Next
The UFC’s middleweight division hasn’t looked this incredible since it’s days when Anderson Silva was steamrolling all competition placed in front of him. And, while Israel Adensaya sits at the top of the division after his UFC 243 win, other contenders are steadily climbing for their chance at the top spot. Jared Cannonier knows that he isn’t far away from getting his shot at the title. Also, he’s aware that beating Robert Whittaker might be the next step necessary to do so.
Cannonier is a man with exceptional self-awareness and common sense. He knows that while he sits at #5 in the Middleweight rankings, the only way to get closer to the title is to fight who’s above him. Only Gastelum, Romero, Costa, and Whittaker are above Cannonier in the rankings. So when Jared Cannonier appeared on the Ariel Helwani MMA show today, he made sure to mention what he believes in the best path to the Middleweight title.
Cannonier on Title Shot Hopes
While it’s not official, all signs point to Israel Adesanya’s first title defense to be against Paulo Costa. Knowing that information leaves Cannonier with just Gastelum, Romero, and Whittaker. In Cannonier’s eyes, the best way to get to the title is to fight the man who last held it.
“Anybody ahead of me gets me closer to a title (fight). I would say a fight with Whittaker would put me closer to a title fight than a fight with any of those other guys. If I were to rank them or put them in a number or anything,” said Cannonier.
Naming Whittaker wasn’t in association with ‘kicking a man while he’s down.’ In fact, Jared thought Rob looked good in his championship loss.
“So I would say Whittaker because he just lost the title. He didn’t look bad in his efforts. I thought he looked great. I think he will only look better especially for being off as long as he did. he will do better in his next outing.”
Making the Match
Thankfully for Cannonier, Whittaker has admitted that although he lost his match, he is simply grateful to be healthy and have the ability to perform. This is great news as Whittaker spent the majority of 2017 and 2018 with a host of misfortunate injuries.
If the pair face-off, who would fans give the nod to in the matchup? Or, do fans want to see Cannonier take on Yoel Romero instead? Let us know in the comments below.
