"Super Saiyan versus a human" - Jared Cannonier says he wants to improve significantly before meeting champion Israel Adesanya
Jared Cannonier believes his current level inside the octagon is not good enough to face UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. Although he knows he is ready for the title fight, Cannonier wants to improve himself before fighting the champ.
Now that he is back in contention for a potential title shot down the line, Jared Cannonier claims he must level up to outclass Adesanya in a potential fight. In the post-fight interview at UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Gastelum, 'The Killa Gorilla' said that by the time he fights Israel Adesanya, he hopes to improve so much that he ends up looking like a 'Super Saiyan' fighting a normal human being.
"I'm going to have to be a super smart fighter against him [Israel Adesanya]. He is super long and again, you know I still have a lot of work to do. I still got miles to go in terms of getting better as a fighter. I'm not saying I'm not ready for him because I can beat anybody. Just give me a shot. So, in the meantime I'm going to be getting better and better and by the time I meet him, hopefully I'm gonna be so good it's gonna be like a Super Saiyan versus a human or something like that," Jared Cannonier said.
Cannonier has been trying to earn a shot at the title for quite some time now. He managed to get himself into a number one contender's fight against Robert Whittaker but ended up falling short. Back on the grind, 'The Killa Gorilla' picked up a decision win against Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Gastelum on Saturday night.
Will a matchup between Jared Cannonier and Israel Adesanya come to fruition?
Israel Adesanya has ruled the middleweight division with an iron fist thus far. Since unifying the title after knocking out Robert Whittaker back in 2019, 'The Last Stylebender' went on to successfully defend his title thrice against top-contenders in the division. In his last fight, Adesanya picked up a lopsided unanimous decision win against Marvin Vettori at UFC 263.
The Nigerian-Kiwi fighter is undefeated in the middleweight division and has been dominant in most of his fights at 185-lbs. The only loss in his MMA career came at the hands of Jan Blachowicz when Adesanya climbed up a division in search of a second title. While Jared Cannonier is a dangerous fighter, he must prove his worth by beating a top contender before being matched against the champion.