Jared Cannonier has designs on beating Derek Brunson into a bloody mess in January at UFC 270.
The Jan. 22 event will feature championship grudge matches in the heavyweight and flyweight divisions. However, the night’s main card also includes a pivotal matchup in the middleweight division between top-four talents Cannonier (14-5) and Brunson (23-7). Mattering on how the bout is decided, the winner could be a shoo-in to face the man left standing after the UFC 271 title fight between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker.
Jared Cannonier actually found Derek Brunson’s recent Nutty Professor jab funny
With much to gain in victory, Brunson has seen fit to use the time before the bout to play some mind games, and poke fun at the “Killa Gorilla.” Cannonier’s journey through the UFC is well-documented, as he was originally a heavyweight, and improved his training and nutrition program so much that he evolved into an elite middleweight.
I knew it , I knew it. Cannonier you ain’t slick, ol Nutty Professor lookin boy 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/hLfC9OfxoH
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) November 14, 2021
Brunson used that story as the source of a meme he posted on Twitter earlier this month, in which he compared the 37-year-old to the lead character in the 1997 comedy The Nutty Professor. Where the obese Sherman Klump, played by Eddie Murphy, used science to lose weight and turn into a far more fit version of himself named Buddy Love.
The third-ranked middleweight was asked about the tweet during a guest spot on “>The Schmo podcast and admitted he thought it was funny. However, he also viewed the joke as proof that Brunson knows this improved version of him is a “boss” level threat.
“It was a pretty funny meme he came out with. I guess that’s his thing. Crack some jokes [and] throw some pokes,” Cannonier said. “Unbeknownst to him, Buddy Love was that guy, he was the boss fight. If that’s how he sees it, I’m his boss fight. I’m fitting to put it on his a** and I plan on winning.”
Will blond Brunson become blood Brunson at UFC 270?
Jokes aside, Cannonier was asked about the matchup inside the Honda Center in Anaheim Calif., and he feels it is a perfect piece of booking for him. And he expects to show why when he turns the blond-haired Brunson’s head a shade of crimson after 15 minutes together in the Octagon.
“I think it’s a perfect matchup for me. It’s a classic grappler versus predominant striker in myself, but I can grapple with the best as well. And I feel that this is a perfect matchup for me and a terrible matchup for him,” he said. … “Get ready. I’m about to bust this UFC middleweight division-wide open as soon as I turn blond Brunson into blood Brunson. Because I’m gonna bloody [and] batter him up. Whatever you wanna call him, I’m gonna beat this man up. Then I’m going to move on to my title [shot] and I plan on doing the same thing to each and every person after that.”
Brunson is currently on a five-fight win streak. Having scored victories over Edmen Shahbazyan, Kevin Holland, and most recently Darren Till, en route to his ranking at four.
In August, Cannonier bounced back from a UFC 254 loss to Whittaker by upending Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of UFC Vegas 34.
Who do you think pulls out the win in Cannonier vs Brunson?
