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Jared Cannonier not trying to be next Conor McGregor, ‘doing coke and beating up gangsters’


Filed under: Featured, News, UFC, Videos

WINNIPEG – Jared Cannonier knows making bold claims and outrageous actions are the trendy thing to do in MMA these days, but that’s not enough to sway him from taking a classic, humble approach to his career.

Cannonier (10-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) meets Jan Blachowicz (20-7 MMA, 3-4 UFC) in the featured preliminary bout Saturday at UFC on FOX 26, which takes place at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The main card airs on FOX following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

For Cannonier, the obvious goal is to eventually become a UFC champion. However, he doesn’t intend on pursuing available shortcuts, which means no crazy trash-talk or doing something ridiculous.

“I’m not trying to get on the fast track to anything,” Cannonier told MMAjunkie. “I’m trying to work my way up. I ain’t in a rush; I ain’t trying to get all famous and be the next Conor McGregor, doing coke and beating up gangsters and (expletive) like that. I’m good. I’m humble. I’m content. I’m just happy to be fighting for this organization and getting paid good money to where I can just fight.

“A lot of people get in this sport (are) trying to be popular, trying to be a personality,” he continued. “I’m just a person. I’m not a personality. There’s more to being just a person. People get in there and fake it and act. I ain’t trying to do all that. I ain’t got time for that. I just want to fight, be with my family. That’s it.”

Cannonier is matched with Blachowicz in a light heavyweight bout at UFC on FOX 26. He was originally supposed to fight Brazilian legend Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at the event, but then the veteran was flagged with a potential U.S. Anti-Doping Agency violation for a failed drug test, removing him from the card.

Running into opponents with USADA infractions is unfortunately nothing new for Cannonier. Nick Roehrick, who Cannonier beat by third-round knockout at The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale in July, failed a drug test following their fight, leading to a one-year suspension from competition.

Although Cannonier is boldly against performance-enhancing drugs in MMA, he said he’s still not ready to trash Nogueira just yet. Cannonier believes every athlete is entitled to due process, and he said he’s going to allow Nogueira to get his before making a final judgement.

“I’ve said it before: I don’t want to say this guy is juicing,” Cannonier said. “That’s Nogueira. He’s a legend. He’s been doing this for quite a long time. He said it was a tainted supplement, so I’m going to reserve my scorn and all that good stuff. I’m just happy USADA is out there doing its job and catching these guys, leveling out the playing field. It would have been upsetting if I would have fought him and then he would have popped hot afterwards. It’s part of the culture. I don’t know what it is. People are doing it, and I’m glad they’re getting caught.”

If the original fight with Nogueira had stayed together, Cannonier likely would be looking at a greater upshot in the 205-pound division than what he’ll get from beating Blachowicz. That’s not to disrespect his current opponent, Cannonier said, but more simply the reality of the situation.

Cannonier said he’s not stressing about any of it, though, mainly because he might not be in the light heavyweight division much longer. Cannonier’s ultimate goal is to drop to middleweight, and now that he was able to quit his job and become a full-time fighter, he believes that change will come sooner than later.

“I sweat a lot, and I still have a lot of fat to lose,” Cannonier said. “I definitely want to try 185 in 2018, but I got this 205 fight ahead of me, so that’s all that’s on my mind.”

Regardless of where his career goes, Cannonier knows a win at UFC on FOX 26 will be the key to getting what he wants. He’s only lost to former UFC title challenger Glover Teixeira in the division, but Blachowicz is likely his second most difficult fight.

Cannonier believes he’s made tremendous strides since becoming a full-time fighter and training at The MMA Lab in Arizona – so much so that he promises to show a few new wrinkles in his game against Blachwoicz.

“People already see me as a striker, but they’re going to see an even better striker,” Cannonier said. “They’re going to see an even better martial artist on top of that. I may even take somebody down if I get tired of punching them. But who knows? All I know is there’s going to be a lot more knockouts on the horizon.”

For more on UFC on FOX 26, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.


Filed under: Featured, News, UFC, Videos

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