Jared Cannonier Says It’s Impossible To Pick Between Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev
Jared Cannonier has no idea who wins between Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev, but he’ll definitely tune in to find out.
Following Du Plessis’ dominant unanimous decision victory over Sean Strickland at UFC 312, all signs point to ‘DDP’ putting his middleweight gold on the line against the undefeated Chechen monster sometime in 2025.
So far, practically everyone inside the MMA bubble has picked a side, but Cannonier just can’t bring himself to choose one over the other.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that I—I just can’t not pick fights, you know what I mean? It’s just—it’s nothing—it’s not something that I ever liked doing,” Cannonier told Helen Yee ahead of his return to the Octagon. “Both of those guys have tools, and I’m sure they’re both going to employ their tools to the best of their ability. The question is, who’s going to be the one to prevail? I don’t know.”
Initially, Chimaev opened as a 2-to-1 favorite to come out on top in a potential clash with Du Plessis. However, those odds have shifted significantly in just a matter of days with ‘DDP’ now sitting on many sportsbooks as a slight +150 underdog.
Jared Cannonier meets ‘Robocop’ in middleweight headliner inside the APEX
As for Jared Cannonier, the ‘Killa Gorilla’ has bigger things to focus on. Like getting back into the win column when he steps back inside the Octagon this Saturday night (Feb. 15). After coming up short in his last two outings against Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho, Cannonier will test his mettle against Brazilian knockout artist Gregory Rodrigues inside The APEX.
‘Robocop’ rides into his first Fight Night headliner on a three-fight win streak, including back-to-back KOs against Denis Tiuliulin and Brad Tavares. In July, he picked up his seventh career win under the UFC banner via a unanimous decision W over Christian Leroy Duncan.
As it stands, Rodrigues is not ranked in the middleweight division, but a win over Cannonier would likely thrust him into the division’s top 10 and make him an instant title contender.
