Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion Israel Adesanya believes his proposed “super fight” against former light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones is “not dead.”
Despite falling short in his pursuit of becoming a dual UFC champion, the Nigerian-born fighter insists the possibility of a future fight with Jones isn’t is still alive.
Adesanya experienced his first-career loss against light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259, and he agrees with UFC president Dana White that his focus should be on taking care of business in his own division.
What Adesanya doesn’t agree with, however, is the general notion that a potential superfight with Jones (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) is dead just because of his lone setback.
“Hell no,” Adesanya told ESPN. “This is just a valley in my story. In any movie, in any anime series, you always have the valleys and you rise up from that. This is just mine and it’s like, all right, cool, bet. I’m taking this very well, and I know exactly what I have to do to get back to my true self, so yeah, I’m doing just that. But nah, that fight’s not dead. I’m coming for that ass.”
He continued, “This is deeper than fighting now. He knows, we know, we all know what he’s like. We all know how fake he is. It’s not even gonna take long before he f***s his life up again if he hasn’t already and kept it low key and swept it under the rug.
“You had quarantine Izzy last time going at him and just giving facts, straight facts, so I’m just taking my time right now, doing my own thing, focusing on myself. But, he should do the same because his life could be in shambles.”
A win could have put Adesanya on a guaranteed collision course with Jones, but “The Last Stylebender” still thinks a fight between them is inevitable. For now, though, Jones is eyeing a heavyweight title shot against the Stipe Miocic-Francis Ngannou winner at UFC 260, while Adesanya is waiting for the next middleweight contender to emerge.
