Despite picking him to win, Robert Whittaker surprised with Jared Cannonier's performance vs. Marvin Vettori

Robert Whittaker didn’t expect Jared Cannonier to be that offensive against Marvin Vettori.

Cannonier (17-6 MMA, 10-6 UFC) defeated Vettori in this past Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 46 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Whittaker predicted a Cannonier win, but didn’t see a high output fight.

However, the fight proved to be the exact opposite, as Cannonier set the single-fight record for the most significant strikes landed in a UFC middleweight bout, landing 241 total according to UFC Stats.

“I picked Cannonier to win this fight, but I didn’t pick this Cannonier,” Whittaker said during the ESPN post-fight show. “I didn’t envision seeing this pressure fighter Cannonier who just crowds and closing that gap. You saw during the fight Cannonier had a hold of Marvin’s hands a lot of the times because he was that close. I didn’t pick him coming out with this approach but it obviously worked to great effect.”

Whittaker will look to cement his own title shot when he takes on Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 290 on July 8. The former middleweight champion thinks the biggest mistake past opponents have made against streaking contender Du Plessis is underestimating him – but he won’t.

“I do believe that is one of the major reasons why Dricus has had the success he’s had because he’s going up against these dudes and these guys are not giving him his – you know his credit,” Whittaker said. “They’re not giving him the respect his skillset deserves. I fully understand that. I have bled and sweat and trained my butt off to take the war to him, come UFC 290.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 46.