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Luke Rockhold recently gave his prediction for the upcoming middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier. While the former UFC middleweight champ acknowledged Cannonier's power and perseverance, his pick was 'The Last Stylebender'.
Rockhold said in a recent interview with The Schmo:
"It's a far cry, no doubt. But the guy's got power and he's relentless. We'll see if he can bust through some of Israel's shots and get to him. But we got Izzy. Izzy is... he knows what he is doing."
Watch Rockhold's interview with The Schmo below:
Cannonier will make his debut title bid against Adesanya in the main event at UFC 276 on 2 July. 'The Killa Gorilla' is riding a two-fight win streak with a second-round TKO victory over Derek Brunson in his last outing.
Meanwhile, 'The Last Stylebender' has been reigning supreme atop the middleweight division since 2019 and has recorded four successful title defenses. Adesanya's almost perfect record is only marred by a failed light heavyweight title bid against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 in March last year.
When Israel Adesanya hailed Jared Cannonier as the second-most dangerous middleweight
Israel Adesanya was scouting for opponents after his first successful title defense against Yoel Romero. While the Nigeria-born Kiwi was originally eyeing a fight against the then surging Paulo Costa, 'Borrachinha' had to pull out due to a bicep surgery.
Another opponent who caught Adesanya's attention was Jared Cannonier, who was on a three-fight winning streak. The middleweight champ was ready to give 'The Killa Gorilla' a title shot after another outing, hailing him as the second-most dangerous middleweight. 'The Last Stylebender' said in a previous interview with MMA Fighting:
“100 percent I’m looking at him. He’s a beast in the division. He’s the dark horse in the division. He’s the guy everyone is sleeping on but you can’t sleep on him because you’ll get put to sleep. I think he’s the guy, the second most dangerous guy in the division behind myself. I look forward to fighting him after his next fight."
However, Cannonier's three-fight winning streak was snapped by a decision loss to Robert Whittaker whose jabs simply got the better of his opponents leg kicks. 'The Killa Gorilla' has since bounced back with back-to-back victories that propelled him towards the upcoming title shot.
