{"id":365102,"date":"2020-10-21T08:36:22","date_gmt":"2020-10-21T15:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=365102"},"modified":"2020-10-21T08:36:22","modified_gmt":"2020-10-21T15:36:22","slug":"robert-whittaker-believes-hes-better-across-the-board-than-ufc-254-foe-jared-cannonier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-believes-hes-better-across-the-board-than-ufc-254-foe-jared-cannonier\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Whittaker believes he’s “better across the board” than UFC 254 foe Jared Cannonier"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker is feeling confident ahead of his fight with surging contender Jared Cannonier.<\/p>\n

Whittaker and Cannonier will collide in the co-main event of UFC 254 this Saturday night. Ahead of the matchup, the expectation is that Cannonier will earn a crack at UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya if he’s victorious. Adesanya has expressed interest in the fight, UFC President Dana White has echoed that interest, and it’s an opportunity that Cannonier is of course eager for.<\/p>\n

Whittaker believes he’ll wind up playing the spoiler<\/a> because he’s better than his foe in every facet of the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cJared, right now, has the highest threat level of anyone because he\u2019s the dude I have to fight,\u201d Whittaker told the media in Abu Dhabi, where the fight will occur (via MMA Fighting<\/a>). \u201cI have had hard fights and I expect a very hard fight in Jared, Jared\u2019s a very hard dude. I\u2019m not sleeping on his skill set, I\u2019m not sleeping on his power. He can beat me. I could lose. But I don\u2019t think I will.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very tough, he\u2019s very powerful, he has knockout power, and he\u2019s resilient, he never goes away,\u201d Whittaker continued. \u201cBut honestly, I just think I\u2019m 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\u2019m looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Whittaker does defeat Cannonier, he’ll move to 2-0 since losing the title to Adesanya, having also beaten Darren Till this summer. While that might be enough to earn him a rematch with the champ, he doesn’t feel that he’s owed that opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone owes anybody anything,\u201d Whittaker said. \u201cI just want to fight Jared right now. I\u2019m not really thinking about it at all. Whatever [Adesanya] wants to do he can do. He can fight anyone, I don\u2019t care. Honestly, I just want to take this fight, go out there and do my best, and go home, just cruise out, enjoy Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you think Robert Whittaker will take out Jared Cannonier this weekend?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker is feeling confident ahead of his fight with surging contender Jared Cannonier. Whittaker and Cannonier will collide in the co-main event of UFC 254 this Saturday night. Ahead of the matchup, the expectation is that Cannonier will earn a crack at UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya if he’s victorious. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":301722,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10582,39610],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nRobert Whittaker believes he's "better across the board" than UFC 254 foe Jared Cannonier | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker is feeling confident ahead of his fight with surging contender Jared Cannonier.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-believes-hes-better-across-the-board-than-ufc-254-foe-jared-cannonier\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Robert Whittaker 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