Israel Adesanya Willing To Chase Jon Jones Down Into Heavyweight
The beef between UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has been brewing for several months now.
Both Jones and Adesanya have taken shots at each other through the media throughout the past several months, with talk of an eventual superfight between the pair down the line going around as well. However, Adesanya has made it clear he wants to show respect for the middleweight division in which he currently reigns as champion, wanting to defend his title several times before jumping up to a new weight class.
But in that time the likelihood that Jones moves up to heavyweight is high, meaning they’d once again be separated by another weight class. Recently, Adesanya joined Submission Radio and discussed his beef with Jones. He was asked about UFC president Dana White recently suggesting that he’d like to see Jones vs. Adesanya in a stadium from New Zealand or Australia. However, when Adesanya envisions the fight, he sees it taking place from Raiders Stadium in Las Vegas.
“I think Raiders Stadium would be the one. If it makes dollars, it makes sense. So, you just have to make it make sense to Dana, and once you do, yeah, he’ll follow suit. Or we can even take it to somewhere like Morocco or somewhere like South Africa. We can definitely do it out here in New Zealand, but not Australia. I’ve already given you guys a stadium show.”
Adesanya then suggested Jones commented recently that, by the time the fight could happen, Jones would already be at heavyweight. That’s not an issue for Adesanya, who has competed at heavyweight before in combat sports.
“Raiders would be the one for that. And what did he say? I saw something on Instagram that by the time he goes to heavyweight the fight will be – who gives a fuck about weight? I’ve never given a fuck about weight.
“Since when? It’s never been an issue for me. I’ve been a heavyweight in boxing, in kickboxing. I’ll do it in again in MMA. So, it’s never been an issue for me. He can try and run to heavyweight, but I’ll chase him down. I’ll hunt him down if I have to.”
The middleweight champ then doubled down on his willingness to fight Jones at heavyweight. He’d even welcome Jones to middleweight, but is sure he wouldn’t be able to make such a cut.
“Yeah. Let him go to heavyweight. Right now, I’m working at middleweight. If he wants to come, he can skip the line if he comes down to middleweight. I’ve said that already. But I’m sure he can’t do that because his frame won’t let him. So, let me do my work, shut the fuck up and I’ll come see you when it’s time.”
What do you think about Adesanya saying he’d fight Jones at heavyweight down the road?
