Oklahoma City — Extending his current win streak to five straight, British middleweight Christian Leroy Duncan is poised to crack the top ten following his defeat of Jared Cannonier at UFC Oklahoma City on Saturday.
CLD battered and bruised “The Killa Gorilla” across three rounds, though he couldn’t quite put the tough-as-nails Cannonier out.
“It feels good to have this momentum in the UFC right now. Jared Cannonier is called ‘The Gorilla’ for a reason, he’s a hard guy to put away,” Duncan (15-2) said while speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press following the event at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on Saturday.
“Former title contender, challenger, fought some of the best in the middleweight division. So a win over him, I’d say that solidifies my position now in the rankings. Potentially a single digit next to the name, and some big fights ahead.”
CLD was surprised that Cannonier didn’t end up being put out by some of the heavy shots he landed. Including, at one point, a nasty spinning back elbow. “Credit to Jared. We knew it was going to be a tough fight, we know how he comes, he’s a tough fighter, he’s a veteran, he’s been here a long time, but I was still surprised by what he could take.”
Looking ahead, Duncan didn’t have any specific names to call out. “No one in particular, but I’ve got my eye on the whole division,” he noted. “If I make the [top 10] rankings, then there’s going to be nine names ahead, and I’ll welcome any of those nine names.”
Later, CLD was asked about the pressure of being in the night’s co-main event, against a high-profile opponent like Cannonier. “There’s no more pressure than what I already put on myself. I try to be the best I can be, I put a lot of pressure on myself day in, day out to get that way; I’m very disciplined.”
And while he might not have an opponent in mind, Christian Leroy Duncan does have a date he’s eying. “I like the look of that Paris card [in September], it’s close to home, it’s not far away. Especially coming off of this fight, no injuries, the travel won’t be far, the time difference isn’t much. So depending on who’s available, and how I heal up from this, I’ll be ready to go then but we need to see the landscape of the division. See who is available, what fights are happening, then we can kind of eye up on what fights make sense next.”
Watch the full UFC Oklahoma City post-fight press conference with Jared Cannonier above.
