Jared Cannonier knows the stakes are high for his UFC 254 co-main event fight against Robert Whittaker.
Cannonier is someone middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya has talked about being next in line for a title shot and being the dark horse of the division. He has gone 3-0 at middleweight with TKO wins over Jack Hermansson, Anderson Silva, and David Branch.
So, when he battles the former champion in Whittaker, he is expecting to get another stoppage win and earn a shot at UFC gold.
“This is the biggest fight of my career. A title fight is definitely coming for me next,” Cannonier said at media day.
Jared Cannonier also says he respects Israel Adesanya for wanting to defend his belt against the contenders and saying he would be next in line.
“Real recognize real,” Cannonier said. “He said in his interview he respects my energ. That means something different to me than what it means to other people.”
Cannonier, as mentioned, is 3-0 since dropping down to middleweight. However, he has not fought in over a year when he defeated Jack Hermansson by TKO. Since then, he tore his pec as he was rumored to be fighting Darren Till. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Robert Whittaker, meanwhile, returned to the win column in July with a decision win over Till. Before that, he suffered a second-round TKO loss to Israel Adesanya to lose his middleweight title.
