"I am not here to be a part of the circus"- Jared Cannonier talks about his viral video with Aljamain Sterling, Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann
Jared Cannonier was at UFC 274 to catch the fights and be on hand when the UFC announced his big middleweight title fight against Israel Adesanya at UFC 276. The promotion had Cannonier right up in the front row along with all the celebrities and other high-profile fighters, including Aljamain Sterling, Paddy Pimblett, and Molly McCann.
Pimblett and McCann are notoriously rowdy and bantamweight champion Sterling seemed on the same level that night. Not so much Jared Cannonier, who was captured on film stone-faced as the three fighters surrounding him goofed off for the cameras.
Cannonier 💀
(via @funkmasterMMA) https://t.co/VZ8eHy4xYe
During an interview with The MMA Hour, Cannonier explained the now-viral video clip. He said:
"I'm there to watch the fights. I'm there to watch the circus, not be a part of the circus. No offense to anyone involved. I respect each and every one of my cohorts. I'm just doing me, man. They're doing them. That's me. I'm staying in my zone, staying in my energy, protecting my energy. I really don't like being surrounded by a lot of people that I don't know, who I'm not familiar with, who I don't trust. I guess it's a stigma that I picked up from the army, I don't like being around a lot of people."
"But that's just me. It's not like I'm anti-social, it's not that I was sitting there grouchety, grumpity, people making that assumption. I had a neutral look on my face, you know? And I noticed the camera was right there. People see the camera and they start acting all kinds of ways with that artificial eye watching them, people act all kinds of ways."
According to Cannonier, Molly McCann was the wildest of the bunch. He said:
"They were rowdy, especially Molly. They're cool, they're all cool. I got no qualms with any of them ... But Molly, every time I looked up at the screen I saw her drink hovering above my head. Yeah man, me and my wife got a bit of beer on the back of us but no biggie, it's all good. They didn't pour a whole beer, they didn't douse us. We got spritzed a bit every now and then."
Watch The MMA Hour interview with Jared Cannonier below:
Jared Cannonier fights Israel Adesanya for the UFC middleweight title at UFC 276 on July 2
Fresh off his second round KO victory over Derek Brunson in February, Jared Cannonier is now set to face Israel Adesanya for the 185-pound belt at UFC 276. That's the promotion's big International Fight Week event on July 2 in Las Vegas, historically one of the biggest cards of the year.
#UFC276 is going to be 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐂 🔥🔥🔥 https://t.co/XOxpS7f2bz
Also on the card: the highly anticipated third fight between featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway.