While Jared Cannonier might be unsure about his next step following Saturday’s result, one former champion thinks he’s got just the idea for the UFC middleweight contender.
Cannonier proved that he’s got plenty left in the tank this past weekend when he headlined the latest UFC Fight Night at the Apex in Las Vegas.
Though he entered the cage as the underdog, the former title challenger overcame a couple of early knockdowns to turn the tide on Gregory Rodrigues en route to a TKO stoppage in the opening exchanges of round four.
Moving forward, “The Killa Gorilla” has admitted that his past results and the landscape of the division leaves him in a tricky position when it comes to rising the ranks.
But during a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Bisping identified a second dance with a top contender that the former champ believes makes perfect sense.
“A rematch five years in the making, I think that makes all the sense in the world,” Bisping said about Cannonier running it back with Robert Whittaker. “Robert would want it because he’d look at it as a good fight to find his mojo, to come back from, to get a win, to get back in the win column, to beat somebody that he’s beaten before.
“And, of course, for Jared Cannonier, at 40 years old, Robert Whittaker is a massive household name in mixed martial arts,” Bisping continued. “Everyone would want to see that fight and it’s a chance for Jared to get that one back.”
Whittaker has been out of action since having his surge toward another championship fight emphatically stalled by Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi last October.
Having previously won back-to-back contests opposite Paulo Costa and Ikram Aliskerov, the Australian remains close to the top and will be looking to revive his ongoing title ambitions in 2025.
With that, perhaps a second meeting with Cannonier could be in store. The pair previously did battle at UFC 254 in 2020, with Whittaker’s success on the feet including a broken arm suffered by “The Killa Gorilla” and culminating in a unanimous decision win.