“I think I can sting him and knock him out” Robert Whittaker on Cannonier before UFC 254
Robert ‘The Reaper’ Whittaker faces Jared Cannonier at UFC 254 in the co-main event, this weekend. Coming off a victory over Darren Till, the New Zealand-born Australian professional mixed martial artist, will look to keep the momentum going. Another win might probably set him up for a title shot, just a year after losing his middleweight championship to Israel Adesanya at UFC 243.
On the other hand, Jared Cannonier is on a hot KO streak, knocking out all of his previous three opponents, including the likes of the ;GOAT’ Anderson Silva. A win against Whittaker will definitely make him the number 1 contender for the middleweight championship.
“I’m not sleeping on his skill set” – Whittaker on Cannonier
Speaking to MMAFighting prior to his bout with Jared, Whittaker said he was well aware of how talented and skilled Jared is, also acknowledging his power and level of threat. Whittaker was quoted as saying, “Jared, right now, has the highest threat level of anyone because he’s the dude I have to fight. I have had hard fights and I expect a very hard fight in Jared, Jared’s a very hard dude. I’m not sleeping on his skill set, I’m not sleeping on his power. He can beat me. I could lose. But I don’t think I will.”
“He’s very tough, he’s very powerful, he has knockout power, and he’s resilient, he never goes away,” Whittaker went on. “But honestly, I just think I’m better across the board. I think I can take this fight wherever I want it to go. I can lead this dance. I think I can sting him, I can knock him out. I can do anything I want and I have 15 minutes to do that, which is better than 25, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Whittaker and Cannonier were initially scheduled to fight in the month of March, but the fight got postponed when Whittaker pulled out. And since then, Whittaker has experienced a paradigm shift in his training, saying that he is highly motivated. Let’s see how “The Reaper” fares!
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Gerard Crispin
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