May 11, 2019; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Jared Cannonier (red gloves) reacts to fight against Anderson Silva (blue gloves) during UFC 237 at Jeunesse Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports
What’s next for Jared Cannonier — 3 potential opponents
What a comeback for Jared Cannonier!
After being floored multiple times in round one of his UFC Vegas 102 main event against Gregory Rodrigues, “The Killa Gorilla” roared back with a fourth round knockout. The win prevented Cannonier’s first career three fight losing streak.
The seventh ranked middleweight now has options. Let’s take a look at what’s next for the 40-year-old.
Paulo Costa: How has this never happened?
There are certain fights where you look back and wonder how they were never booked. For example: how did Andrei Arlovski and Junior Dos Santos never fight? Jared Cannonier and Paulo Costa is one such fight. Both are mainstays of the UFC’s middleweight division but have never been matched up.
Now on a win and ranked seven, Cannonier is in a weird spot. Above him are fighters like Robert Whittaker, Caio Borralho and Nassourdine Imavov, all who have convincingly beat Cannonier. This means The MMA Lab contender will likely have to fight down again, though not an unranked opponent. Costa is ranked eleven. This could be a deserving main event and a fun stylistic matchup.
Run it back: Jared Cannonier vs. Sean Strickland 2
Jared Cannonier title run at 40 starts now? One conceivable matchup that’s ranked above Cannonier is Sean Strickland. The timeline matches up with Strickland fighting just last week.
“The Killa Gorilla” holds a close split decision win over Strickland back in 2022. With Strickland ranked 2, we could realistically see Cannonier and Strickland run it back to see if the first fight was a fluke or if Cannonier really can beat middleweight’s weirdest fighter.
Another contender: Roman Kopylov
If you’re intent on Jared Cannonier not fighting above his ranking, which is warranted, but want him in a ranked fight, look no further than Roman Kopylov. Ranked at fourteen, Kopylov is coming off of a win last January to Chris Curtis. That finish was a head kick that earned him Fight of the Night honors.
Now Kopylov is looking to move up in the rankings after beating Curtis and Almeida in subsequent fights. His last loss was early in 2024 against Fluffy Hernandez. Before that, it was a four fight streak. Kopylov wants a shot in the top ten and Cannonier can be that shot.
