"I foresee him trying to do that to me" - Jared Cannonier on takeaways from Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker 2
Jared Cannonier has revealed what he took away from Israel Adesanya’s rematch against Robert Whittaker. Adesanya defeated Whittaker via second-round KO back in 2019 to unify the UFC middleweight title.
Their rematch transpired in February this year, with Adesanya beating Whittaker via unanimous decision in a closely-contested fight. During his latest interview with Submission Radio, Cannonier praised both Adesanya’s aggression and Whittaker's defensive skills in the rematch. 'The Killa Gorilla' stated:
“I saw the energy. So, the dude [Adesanya] was in there trying to work, trying to put it on him [Whittaker]. I foresee him trying to do that to me; maybe even in a worse way, which is why he thinks it’s gonna be easy. He thinks it’s gonna work because, you know, they keep playing on this heavyweight thing – That he’s a heavyweight and stuff like that.”
Israel Adesanya does the double on The Reaper! 😤
@stylebender defeats Robert Whittaker via unanimous decision to retain his UFC Middleweight Championship! 🏆
#UFC271 https://t.co/nWuVHimOQw
Cannonier suggested that 'The Last Stylebender' and his team kept alluding to the fact that he'd previously competed at heavyweight. The 38-year-old insinuated that his history as a heavyweight won’t adversely affect his performance against Israel Adesanya in their upcoming middleweight matchup:
“Me being a heavyweight was due to indiscipline, not due to my lack of skill, not due to my knowledge of what we’re doing here. So, it’s gonna be a completely different fight. I’m a completely different fighter. I’m a completely different fighter depending on who I’m fighting as well.”
Jared Cannonier emphasized that he aims to end the fight with Israel Adesanya at the earliest rather than go to war with him. Cannonier has consistently maintained that he’ll make it “easy” against the reigning middleweight champion at UFC 276 and reiterated the same in his interview with Submission Radio.
Watch Cannonier discuss his takeaways from the Adesanya-Whittaker rematch at the 20:02-minute mark in the video below:
Robert Whittaker on the UFC 276 fight between Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier
Israel Adesanya is scheduled to defend his belt against Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 on July 2. In a recent interview with The Mac Life, Adesanya’s longtime rival Robert Whittaker picked ‘The Last Stylebender’ to defeat Cannonier.
Robert Whittaker acknowledged that the Adesanya-Cannonier fight is “tricky” and opined that 'The Killa Gorilla' does pose a threat to the champion's throne. Regardless, lauding Adesanya's brilliant skillset, 'The Reaper' said:
“Cannonier can do it. But I think Israel's gonna put him through his paces. He's great at controlling the distance and the space and using his reach to his best advantage. So, Cannonier can definitely do it. But, he may have to come in differently than he has been in the last couple of fights. But, wait and see."
Watch Robert Whittaker's interview with The MacLife below: