Israel Adesanya defended his middleweight title in the main event of UFC 253 with a TKO win over Paulo Costa.
In the lead up to the fight, many pundits thought it would be a very competitive fight. Yet, that is far from what happened as “The Last Stylebender” dominated from the get-go.
Now, following the win, Dana White says the next logical opponent for the champ is Jared Cannonier if he beats Robert Whittaker at UFC 254.
“That’s the fight if Cannonier wins and I love that about Israel,” Dana White said at the post-fight press conference. “He’s ready for who’s next, who else thinks they can beat me. The kid is an absolute stud.”
Jared Cannonier is currently undefeated since moving down to middleweight with TKO wins over David Branch, Anderson Silva, and Jack Hermansson. There is no question if he beats Whittaker he is the number one contender. Adesanya has even said he wants to fight Cannonier as he views him as the darkhorse of the middleweight division.
For now, Adesanya is still soaking up his win while he will no doubt be watching the UFC 254 co-main event.
