Jared Cannonier thinks his upcoming opponent Israel Adesanya is a little like Marvel superhero Dr. Strange.
It is less than two weeks before number one contender Cannonier gets his shot at the middleweight championship against Adesanya. Cannonier has been close to the title for a couple of years, and it is finally here.
In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Cannonier talked about his upcoming matchup with ‘The Last Stylebender.’ When talking about the keys to victory, ‘The Killa Gorilla’ says there isn’t one way to beat him; you have to use all of the aspects of martial arts. He even compared Adesanya to Dr. Strange.
“Honestly, I think he’s too good of a striker and he’s too good of a combatant, for you to just come at him with one thing and expect this is the thing that’s going to work,” Cannonier said. “I don’t know [other fighters] do. When I watched his fights, every fight starts on the feet, you know Izzy has good footwork to where he can control it. His footwork is like a wrestler’s takedown and their the ability to control where the fight is gonna take place. So, he’s been really good at using space to his advantage, controlling time and space. Dr. Strange over here. But yeah, you gotta be multi-dimensional.”
Adesanya has been compared to many fictional characters, but Dr. Strange is a new one.
As for Cannonier’s opinion on the new Dr. Strange movie that came out a few months ago, he said it was okay.
While there has been a little trash talk between the two middleweight that will headline UFC 276, Cannonier doesn’t see Adesanya as an enemy but rather as a co-worker.
“Well I got no chip on my shoulder whatsoever. I feel the same way about him that I’ve always felt. He’s another black man, like he said, you know, we’re both on the same path – he’s on the path to greatness and I’m on my path to greatness,” Cannonier said.
“I don’t want to poetize the whole fu*king thing or anything like that, but I don’t see him as my enemy or anything like that. I see us as co-workers. I see us as two guys hustling. We found our hustle, we found our niche, and we’re gonna exploit it to the best of our ability. We’re working together to make it make some shit happen. Even though, on the outside, it looks like we’re punching and we’re using hate and violence and shit. But that ain’t it at all. I’m saying he’s a martial artist. I’m a martial artist. We got to come together. We’re gonna exchange energy and create the best I can fu*king thing you guys have ever seen on TV.”
Cannonier might be the most hyped opponent for Adesanya for some time now because the former heavyweight walks forward and has legit knockout power. Adesanya has called for a matchup with Cannonier since 2020, and he finally got him.