UFC middleweight contender Jared Cannonier sent a message to divisional rival Derek Brunson, saying that “I’m getting the title shot first.”
Cannonier is currently the No. 3 ranked middleweight in the UFC and he is coming off of a big win over Kelvin Gastelum in his last fight. Brunson, meanwhile, is ranked at No. 4 and he is coming off of five straight wins, including a submission over Darren Till last weekend at UFC Vegas 36. Following the big win over Till, Brunson called for a title shot against UFC middleweight Israel Adesanya, but as far as Cannonier goes, he deserves the next 185lbs title shot first, after Robert Whittaker and Adesanya meet in early 2022.
“I understand his stance. He’s been doing this for a long time, he hasn’t had his title shot, he was close to his title shot, and then he ran into Izzy and now he’s on his way. I don’t think he’s in a position to wait for a title shot, to be honest. He’s No. 5, he beat No. 7. I don’t think that does much. I think that just solidifies your position right there at contendership. I don’t think it makes you the No. 1 contender. So, if he wants to be certified officially the No. 1 contender, he’d fight me. And then he can sit around and wait and be guaranteed the title shot,” Jared Cannonier told Submission Radio (via MMAFighting.com).
“As far as if I wait and he waits, I’m getting the title shot first. If you look at the rankings, that’s just how it is. I mean, to be honest, I’m waiting for them to call me. And if he says no, he won’t be the first one to say no to a fight with me. A bunch of these guys say no to me, a lot of these guys in the top of the division have said no to me. So, I’m not surprised. Naturally, cause I’m ahead of him in the rankings. My resume of who I beat, the last four guys, got four wins in the division. The last four guys who I beat have all been better than the guys that he’s beat. I know he’s on a winning streak, but my four out of five wins are better than his five out of what, five?”
Do you think Jared Cannonier should get the next middleweight title shot before Derek Brunson, or would you like to see the two compete in a No. 1 contender fight for it instead?