Christian Leroy Duncan isn’t overlooking Jared Cannonier just because the former title challenger is 42-years-old.
Ahead of their middleweight showdown at UFC Oklahoma City, Duncan told reporters he’s preparing for the best version of “The Killa Gorilla,” calling Cannonier the most experienced opponent he’s faced and one of the toughest challenges of his career.
“I would say so. I progress in the UFC and my opponents have risen. This will be my most experienced fighter I’ve fought. A guy that’s fought for the title and fought some of the best in the division,” Duncan told Cageside Press at media day.
“I look forward to putting off a good performance against him as he deserves as such a respectable fighter here in the UFC.”
Duncan has done his homework on Cannonier, studying years of tape to get a feel for how the former heavyweight has changed throughout his career. One matchup especially caught his attention.
“We done a lot of studying on Jared Cannonier, there’s a lot of film on him, and how he’s kind of adjusted and changed and both grown from being a heavyweight down to middleweight,” he said.
“That fight with MVP was an interesting one for sure.”
Age may be the first thing people bring up when talking about Cannonier, but Duncan isn’t buying into that narrative. As far as he’s concerned, he’s preparing for the toughest version of “The Killa Gorilla.”
“Yeah you say his age 42, but not many 42-year-olds look like Jared Cannonier. He’s well-experienced and over the years he’s kind of refined the way that he fights. It hasn’t changed much, but he’s very good at what he does,” said Duncan.
“I’ve treated him that way. I approach preparing for this fight as if I’m fighting the best version of Jared.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Christian Leroy Duncan above. He faces Jared Cannonier at UFC OKC on Saturday night.
