Athletes
Jared Cannonier | Defend Then Advance
Middleweight contender wants to surge back towards title contention, starting with a victory over Michael “Venom” Page at UFC 319.
Jared Cannonier wants to make another run at the undisputed UFC middleweight title, but first he has to defend his ranking, and his weight class, from a dangerous welterweight looking to make his mark.
The ninth-ranked Cannonier will take on 15th-ranked welterweight contender Michael “Venom” Page in a fascinating middleweight clash at UFC 319 in Chicago, and Cannonier plans on defending his turf with an important win to set him up for another run at the division’s top contenders.
Cannonier had a similar assignment last time out, when he was matched against hard-hitting Brazilian middleweight Gregory Rodrigues. But “Tha Killa Gorilla” stopped “Robocop” in the fourth round of their main event bout at UFC Vegas 102 in February, and he plans on delivering a similar performance this weekend.
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“When you win, that always feels good, especially when you have to earn it against a competitor like I had that night in Gregory Rodrigues, so victory is always sweet,” he said, before revealing his big takeaway from that fight that he plans to put into action on Saturday night.
“I gotta go. I gotta get started fast,” he explained.
“Gotta get started from the sound of the bell. I can't allow for a feeling out period and stuff like that, depending on the circumstance, depending on the opponent. So that's one of the takeaways.”
Cannonier explained that his victory over Rodrigues was “important in maintaining my position” as he kept a tight grasp on his top 10 ranking spot. And he has a similar job to do against Page this weekend, though the matchup itself promises to deliver a very different test.
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Despite facing an opponent with a very different fighting style to his last foe, Cannonier isn’t too concerned. He sees a route to victory, and plans to take it.
“I’ve been watching him since before he was in the UFC and he's an exciting fighter, has an interesting style,” he said.
“But, as an opponent, I see a man who's breakable, who's going to get broken.”
Page’s unique fighting style has made him consistently one of the trickiest tests to prepare for in the sport. But, rather than scouring the globe for potential sparring partners to closely mimic “MVP’s” fighting style, Cannonier is sticking with his close-knit team and focusing on the one thing he can control on fight night – his own performance.
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“I don't really pull people in. I don't be like, well, I need to prepare for this guy. No, I need to get ready to hurt somebody. I'm gonna get ready to fight somebody. I'm gonna get ready to win.
“He’s just a man. He has his movements, he has his tendencies. I've watched him, I've studied him, and me and my team have laid eyes on him, and I’m planning on laying hands on him, and coming out with the victory.
“I’m not going to give away my secrets, but you guys have seen my fights. You guys see how I go forward, I get in my opponent's face, and we're going to mix it up,” he said.
“I want to be better. I want to do it better. I want to be more efficient, more proficient. There's a smaller margin of error when dealing with a tricky fighter like ‘MVP’. So, like I said, I’ve just got to be sharp. I’ve got to be on point. I’ve got to be clean, and I want to get in his face, get in his grill, let him know what it feels like to be up here.”
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For Cannonier, this fight is about more than just winning, it’s about putting himself back in a position to start fighting up the rankings and moving towards a second shot at championship gold.
“My goal is (to move) up. I’ve been fighting down for the last four fights. Enough of that – I want to get to the title,” he said.
“I have only so many fights left on my contract, and I'm here to show and prove that I'm ready to get that title shot again and make good on it.”
To put himself back on that upward trajectory in the division, he plans on defending his ranking from Page, by showing him, and the viewing public, that fighting at middleweight is a different ball game to what he’s used to experiencing at welterweight.
But, as far as Cannonier is concerned, the weight class is irrelevant. He just thinks he’s the better fighter.
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“The dogs are bigger up here. They bite harder,” said Cannonier.
“We know how smaller dogs like to yap, yap, yap, and stuff like that. I personally don't do much of that. You know, there are some yappers up here, but I don't do none of that yapping.
“I don't want to build it up and build up the fact that he's coming up to middleweight, and that's why he's going to lose. He's going to lose because he's going up against me.”
UFC 319: Du Plessis vs Chimaev took place live from United Center in Chicago, Illinois on August 16, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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