"Makes me laugh" - Sean Strickland fires back at Jared Cannonier after latter expresses doubt in his 'belief' to beat UFC champ Israel Adesanya
Jared Cannonier faced both Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland in 2022, losing to the former at UFC 276 and beating the latter at UFC Fight Night 216. 'The Killa Gorilla' recently expressed that he doesn't believe 'Tarzan' is confident that he can defeat 'The Last Stylebender' ahead of their rumored UFC 293 bout. The No.6-ranked middleweight took to Twitter to fire back, stating:
"Makes me laugh to hear Cannonier opinion on me and Izzy.. I like him but man I won that fight, you know I won that fight, the announcers know I won the fight. I won the fight in first gear lol but yes you threw really hard, I don't know what they felt like but they looked hard."
Check out Sean Strickland's response to Jared Cannonier below:
While Strickland believes that he beat Cannonier, two of the three judges saw things differently, with both giving 'The Killa Gorilla' four of the five rounds. 'Tarzan' has bounced back with two consecutive victories and appears in line to receive the first title opportunity of his career following Dricus du Plessis' reportedly turning down a title fight at UFC 293. Cannonier also won his next bout, with a record-setting performance against Marvin Vettori, however, it is unclear what is next for the No.4-ranked middleweight.
What did Jared Cannonier say about Sean Strickland?
Jared Cannonier recently weighed in on the rumored UFC 293 middleweight title bout between Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya. Speaking with Helen Yee, 'The Killa Gorilla' stated:
"Well, Sean doesn't even believe he can win that fight. He just wants to go in there and fight and get some money... Izzy's not an easy fight and the way those styles match up, I don't think Sean will be able to work his jab, his funky a** footwork, his ability to evade shots. I think Izzy is way too long, he's a sniper and he is too diverse, he is too versatile with his striking, and I don't think Sean's grappling is good enough to make it a factor."
Check out Jared Cannonier's comments on Sean Strickland below (starting at the 3:50 mark):
Cannonier did add that anything is possible in the fight game, pointing to Dricus du Plessis' UFC 290 victory over Robert Whittaker. While he would not rule out the possibility of an upset, the No.4-ranked middleweight noted that, if he were a betting man, his money would be on the middleweight champion.