Jared Cannonier is on the road to recovery from knee surgery and is eyeing his return to action.
Cannonier (17-6 MMA, 10-6 UFC) tore his right MCL in October, right after getting a phone call to step in to face Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294. Doctors took care of meniscus damage as well, and the former title challenger has been doing his best to stay in shape during physical therapy to get ready for a return to the octagon.
“I did see my surgeon, he did say that he would be able to clear me by the tail end of March,” Cannonier told Inside Fighting. “So, another couple of months, a month and a half, I should be back clear to compete. In the next couple of weeks, maybe in the next month, I’m going to be really getting back to my grappling. That’s the only thing I haven’t really been doing is a lot of grappling.
“I’ve been continuing my strength and conditioning and working my striking and stuff like that. I’m still feeling sharp, I’m feeling stronger than ever. I’ve made a lot of improvements since my last fight, and even since the injury I’ve made more improvements. The injury occurred and I feel like when I came back, I’m a better fighter because I’ve been studying and still thinking about this thing.”
The injury suffered in training meant Cannonier would have to miss out on a big opportunity to get his name back in the title picture for another shot at gold. Not only did it scrap his chance to fight Chimaev on short notice, it also canceled a booking against Roman Dolidze in December.
“The Killa Gorilla’s” first UFC title shot came against then-champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 276, but he ended up on the wrong end of a unanimous decision. Cannonier rebounded nicely and went on to defeat now-former champion Sean Strickland by split decision, followed by a unanimous decision win over Marvin Vettori.
Chimaev ended up facing former welterweight champ Kamaru Usman at UFC 294, and won by majority decision. He believes that win was enough to earn a title shot, and is currently waiting to see who the promotion plans to have Dricus Du Plessis fight for his first title defense.
Considering how much has changed in the division since his last fight in June, Cannonier isn’t quite sure what the future holds when he’s ready to return, but is anxious to find out.
“As unfortunate as it was, I wasn’t too bent out of shape about it,” Cannonier said. “These things happen. I’m happy about the place that I’m at and the environment that I’m in so that I’m about to recover and even come back stronger.
“It sucks the opportunity had to go away like that, but things happen for a reason. I’m waiting for this whole thing to play out. When I get back, the reasons will be made clear for sure.”
