Robert Whittaker to 'try and rip Jared Cannonier's face off' at UFC 254
During a recent UFC media scrum, Robert Whittaker opened up on his upcoming UFC 254 matchup against Jared Cannonier. Whittaker also weighed in on a potential rematch against Israel Adesanya for the UFC Middleweight Championship.
Robert Whittaker is in a rather interesting position ahead of UFC 254
Robert Whittaker is coming off an impressive unanimous decision victory over Darren Till. With that being said, Whittaker’s upcoming UFC 254 fight against Jared Cannonier is considered by many as a No. 1 contender’s matchup.
Cannonier is likely guaranteed a shot at UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya with a win at UFC 254. However, certain sections of the MMA community believe that Whittaker might not earn an immediate title shot with a win.
Robert Whittaker suffered a vicious KO loss to Israel Adesanya in their UFC Middleweight Championship unification match last year. Considering that, the consensus is that Whittaker may have to win yet another fight after beating Cannonier in order to warrant a rematch against Adesanya.
Robert Whittaker is prepared to rip Jared Cannonier’s face off at UFC 254
Speaking at the latest media scrum, Robert Whittaker asserted that as of now, he’s completely focused on Jared Cannonier. Whittaker added that he respects Cannonier’s skill-set, resilience, and power, and that the latter could defeat him.
Whittaker noted, however, that he won’t lose to Cannonier. He emphasized that he’s simply better across the board. Additionally, Whittaker opined that he can dictate where the fight takes place, can knock Cannonier out, and can do whatever he wants in this fight.
Whittaker also pointed out that he has 15 minutes to beat Cannonier, which is better than a 25-minute bout. He added that he’s looking forward to the fight and made quite a bold statement.
“All I know is I’m gonna go in there and try and rip his face off on the weekend, you know. And that’s it” (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription; video courtesy: TheMacLife)
Whittaker and Cannonier were initially scheduled to fight earlier this year. However, the matchup didn’t come to fruition, as Whittaker withdrew due to undisclosed reasons and Cannonier subsequently backed out due to injury issues.
Whittaker recalled that in the lead-up to the aforementioned fight against Cannonier, he was a tad burnt out and wasn’t feeling as passionate as he did in the current training camp.
The Reaper also noted that he isn’t too concerned about whom Israel Adesanya fights next. Upon being probed as to whether he’d consider fighting Adesanya in November if he beats Cannonier at UFC 254 on October 24th, Whittaker stated that he’d have to discuss the same with his team. However, he isn’t worrying about that right now and is instead solely focused on the Cannonier matchup.
What are your views on Robert Whittaker’s statements? Sound off in the comments.