Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight
Jared
Cannonier recently took to social media to make his case for a
title shot against reigning middleweight champion Sean
Strickland.
Recording one of the biggest upsets in the division’s history,
Strickland fought his way to a dominant unanimous decision victory
against two-time champion Israel
Adesanya at UFC 293 on Sept. 9. Now holding the highly coveted
divisional strap, “Tarzan” has several solid options for opponents
for his first title defense. Most fans are of the view that
Adesanya isn’t deserving of an immediate rematch, considering he
holds just one win in his last three outings.
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Another alternative includes Dricus Du
Plessis, who secured an emphatic technical knockout victory at
UFC 290 against former middleweight kingpin Robert
Whittaker. While Du Plessis was offered to fight Adesanya on
the recently concluded UFC 293 card, „Stillknocks“ was unable to
make it to the Octagon due to an injury. As a result, Strickland
stepped up to take the opportunity and is now on top of the
division.
Cannonier sits as one of the only fighters to defeat Strickland at
middleweight, other than Alex
Pereira. Back in December, Cannonier managed to
edge out a contentious split decision victory against „Tarzan“
in an extremely close fight. Keeping this in mind, Cannonier has
now issued a direct challenge to Strickland for a rematch; this
time, with the title on the line.
“If you’re a true hand to hand combat fan like me and not in it for
the [clown] ass actors and their theatrics, then you know this is
the fight to make,” Cannonier wrote on Instagram. “I beat
the champ and got two checks to prove it. He wasn’t walking me down
screaming in my face either. Nobody does that to me. The only other
MW to beat him has ascended. He fought him differently than he
fought me as well. On top of that he said it himself that he
‘fought like a b—-’ so here’s your chance to redeem your man card
@strickland_mma_ let’s actually do the man dance brother. P.S I was
high as hell on that poster.”
Luckily for Cannonier, the reigning middleweight champion had
expressed an interest in fighting him again and avenging the
previous loss. However, that was before he got his hands on the
belt. As per Strickland’s post-fight interviews, the Xtreme Couture
product appears open to fighting anyone the UFC deems fit for a
shot at the crown, including his recent rival Cannonier.