A middleweight showdown between Jared Cannonier and Gregory Rodrigues is set to take place as the main event of UFC Fight Night 251, scheduled to take place on February 15 inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Former middleweight title challenger Jared Cannonier’s career is a bit down after he recovered from a torn MCL. He was on a two-fight winning streak that included the division’s top names like former middleweight champion Sean Strickland and fellow former title challenger Marvin Vettori. However, facing two consecutive losses against Nassourdine Imavov and Ciao Borralho has set him on a path where he needs to find his way back into the title picture.
Reflecting on the journey and the mistakes that he has made in his last two fights, “The Killa Gorilla” thinks he needs to make some adjustments to make himself better against a dangerous opponent like Gregory Rodrigues who is known for being super tough and dangerous with his hands.
In an interview with Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie, Cannonier said –
“I’ll prepare better, don’t overtrain, I don’t know! Don’t get hit. Definitely don’t get hit. Definitely be a better fighter, be a better manager of my energy in and out of the octagon. I believe something to that effect.”
“I don’t wanna say this is the reason why, that one reason why or that’s the thing or here’s an excuse that I can pull out of my a** or that’s an excuse I can pull out of my a**, and I got 10 more that I can pull out of my a**. But again, I’m trying to do things better, lead up better, maybe try not to take fights too quickly, but I don’t know.”
Gregory “RoboCop” Rodrigues is currently on a three-fight winning streak, his win column might not have high-profile middleweight names like Cannonier’s, but he remains a formidable wrecking machine. Judging by his previous fights, Rodrigues can put anybody’s lights out at any conceivable moment, so he’s definitely a dangerous guy to deal with. Cannonier is acutely aware of the threat he’ll face this weekend and hopes that Rodrigues is nothing like the previous guys he encountered.
“When you said he’s like the last two guys, I don’t want him to be anything like the last two guys. But yes, to a certain degree, you can look at it like that, because he’s another one at the further down. I lost to the first one who was in that position when I was number 03, then I lost to the next one when I was number 05 or 04, and now, I’m still in this, so it’s the same thing. Hopefully third time it’s m*fkin charm! S**t, because 2024 wasn’t a good year for me.”
“One more time man! I guess I will give it one more shot, I do appreciate them giving me another main event. I’m aware of who Gregory Rodrigues is, and that’s a tough challenge, I’m appreciative of that I have a challenge to overcome which is expected in this organization.” – Cannonier added.
Losing two fights in a row, especially against rising contenders has certainly made things worse for Jared Cannonier. The way he mentioned “One more shot” could suggest many implications, but mostly there are two possibilities, either he will be moving up to the light heavyweight division or consider putting down his gloves if he loses this fight. The reason for speculating his potential retirement is based on the fact that Cannonier is currently 40 years old, and if he loses this upcoming fight, it’s a ‘Snake Way’ back to the title shot.
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