Jared Cannonier recently caught the internet’s eye following a seemingly out of place reaction at UFC 274. Joined by his wife at the event, Cannonier was pictured on camera looking less than enthused as a boisterous Paddy Pimblett, and Molly McCann made a general ruckus around him.
Far from being annoyed by the pair, Cannonier was more focused on himself and his energies. He explained to the MMA Hour:
“I’m there to watch the fights,”
“I’m there to watch the circus, not be a part of the circus. No offence to anybody involved, I respect each and every one of my cohorts. I’m just doing me. They’re doing them – that’s me”
Cannonier, who spent 3-years in the Army, including deployment, feels that his unenthused demeanour is just him staying in his comfort zone.
Jared Cannonier Talks Viral Clip
“I’m staying in my zone, I’m staying in my energy, I’m protecting my energy. I really don’t like being surrounded by a lot of people who I don’t know, who I’m not familiar with, and who I don’t trust. I guess it’s a stigma I picked up from the army – I don’t like being around a lot of people.”.
Whether a learned behaviour or not, Cannonier is conscious not to allow Big Brother’s watchful glare to turn him into something, he isn’t.
“But that’s just me. It’s not like I’m anti-social. It’s not like I was sitting there, grouchy-grumpy for people making that assumption. I had a neutral look on my face, and I noticed the camera was right there; people see a camera and they start acting in all kinds of ways, with that artificial eye watching them, people act in all kinds of ways.”
“As I said, I’m not there to be a part of the circus. I’m there to watch. I’m there to watch some fights, to learn, to be right there – I was right there front and centre. I am able to project myself very easily into these fights. I was tensing up and moving – I was watching fights, so that’s what I was doing”.
The main event of UFC 276 and Las Vegas is the next time “The Killa Gorilla” plies his trade as he takes on striking wizard and middleweight champion Isreal Adesanya. He is not one for parties, and with such a huge fight coming up, it is probably an advantage.
Cannonier on Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann
The Scousers in the seats behind him, though, have no such qualms.
“Everybody else was having a good time, which is fine, because I was, too. But that’s me. I’m not a real party animal. I’m certainly not drinking at this point and time, especially not drinking beer or hard liquor.”
“Molly, she was getting a little rowdy,” Cannonier said.
“Every time I look up at the screen, I kept seeing her drink, hovering above our heads. Me and my wife, we got a little bit of beer on the back of us, but no biggie. It’s all good. They didn’t douse us. We got spritzed a little bit every now and again.”
In the end, though, Jared Cannonier isn’t the sulking, angry giant that brief moment on camera might have made him look. He just simply wanted to enjoy the fights more than the alcohol and photo opportunities and is more than happy for Molly and Paddy.
“They were rowdy man, especially Molly, man,” Cannonier said. “She’s cool. They’re all cool. I have no qualms with any of them. But they were doing them, and I can’t hate on them. I’m not going to sit here and judge anybody based on what they do, based on their upbringing, or their experiences.
“S***, they have every right to do what they want to do, as long as they aren’t hurting anybody or impeding nobody else from doing what they want to do, they can do whatever the hell they want to do”.
So, would you be in Cannonier’s Calm Corner or Molly and Paddy’s Party?
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