Jared Cannonier offers to rematch Robert Whittaker at UFC 284 in Australia: “I’d love to go there and fight him again”

By Josh Evanoff - December 21, 2022

UFC middleweight contender Jared Cannonier is ready for a rematch with Robert Whittaker.

Robert Whittaker, Jared Cannonier

‘The Killa Gorilla’ is fresh off his return last Saturday night at UFC Vegas 66. The bout was an important one for the middleweight, as it was his first since losing to Israel Adesanya. In his first title shot in July at UFC 276, Cannonier came up short by unanimous decision.

Luckily for the MMA Lab product, he returned to form last weekend. Facing Sean Strickland in the main event at UFC Apex, Cannonier wound up earning the split-decision win. While ‘Tarzan’ was unhappy with the decision, it was too late to make a difference.

As it turns out, Jared Cannonier is seemingly ready to make a quick turnaround. Robert Whittaker was expected to face Paulo Costa at UFC 284 in February. However, ‘The Eraser’ declined the matchup, and ‘The Reaper’ is currently without a fight.

As he revealed on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Cannonier is willing to accept the fight. The pair previously faced off at UFC 254 in October 2020, with Whittaker getting the decision win. Cannonier is seemingly ready to travel to Australia to get that one back.

Jared Cannonier

(via Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

“Hell yeah [if they offer the rematch I’d accept], I’ve never been to Australia before,” stated Cannonier alongside Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “I’d love to go there and fight Robert again and hopefully get the job done then. No, [they haven’t reached out about the fight].”

He continued, “Yeah, I don’t get [taking Whittaker] off the card either. So, I don’t know, maybe Robert wants to take time off, maybe it’s Robert’s decision. Maybe he wants to take more time off then, wants to enjoy the holidays… Absolutely [if they called, I would be interested].”

What do you make of these comments? Would you like to see the rematch? Sound off in the comment section below PENN Nation!


Topics:

Jared Cannonier Robert Whittaker UFC UFC 284