Jared Cannonier is looking to maintain the momentum that brought him a decision win over Kelvin Gastelum this weekend. He wants to return to the Octagon as soon as possible, against either the reigning champ or the highest-ranked contender.
Speaking to the post-fight press conference, he expressed his desire to fight again soon. “It’s either title or contender. It was supposed to be Costa but that didn’t happen. I really needed to fight. I don’t think Izzy and Robert are going to fight until next year.
Jared Cannonier Only Interested in Title Or No.1 Contender
So that’s, what, four, five, six months even? And then another three, four months after that? I can’t wait that long. So who knows, I might end up taking a fight.
“Is [Darren Till vs. Derek Brunson] a contender’s fight? Well then yeah, [I’d fight the winner].”
The COVID-19 restrictions currently in place in Whittaker and Adesanya’s homes of Australia and New Zealand, respectively, prevent the champ from defending his middleweight title any time soon. Jared might have to wait for another highly-ranked contender.
In discussing his own performance against Gastelum, Cannonier was pleased with himself, and feels that he’s earned a title shot. “Any win is good.
I feel good after that win. Took a little bit of damage but I’m not broken so I can go home and hug my kids and be able to play with them come Monday and stuff like that. So I’m happy.”
Despite landing some of his signature heavy blows, including one brutal knockdown in the third round, Cannonier didn’t manage to knock his opponent out this weekend. However, for the most part, he managed to avoid taking any serious damage, taking out a unanimous decision win.
“I knew his jab was pretty long and I don’t want to say hard to read but I guess I’ll say hard to read. He caught me with a couple of jabs. Inside of my lip is pretty mangled.
He got my eye. He threw those overhand lefts were pretty hard, even though I blocked most of them for the most part. I got some welting on my forehead. I feel like Quark from ‘Star Trek’ but I’m happy. I got the win. Thank goodness for that. I got the ‘W’ and two checks.”
With so many controversial judging decisions lately, was Cannonier concerned about leaving this one up to the scorecards?
“I could say there’s always that tension when there’s a decision but I knew I won that decision. I knew I had at least the last three rounds. After I knocked him down, I felt I took the momentum and I maintained it for the most part. Not necessarily any concern.”
Do you want to see Cannonier keep up his momentum and take on the winner of Till vs Brunson? Let us know in the comments.
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