Michael Bisping: Jon Jones vs. Israel Adesanya Is ‘More Competitive’ Than People Think
Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping is a fan of Israel Adesanya calling out Jon Jones and thinks he can give the light heavyweight champion problems.
Adesanya and Jones have been going back-and-forth on social media in recent months with fans wanting to see them both collide at some point in the future. Adesanya only joined the UFC last year and will face Robert Whittaker in a middleweight title unification fight at UFC 243 in October.
And for him to be in the same sentence as Jones already is great marketing according to Bisping:
“I like what Israel’s doing,” Bisping said on his podcast (via BJ Penn). “I like that he’s calling out Jon Jones. The fact that he’s even being put in the same sentence as him is great marketing. It’s a great strategy, calling out the biggest, best name possible. That’s awesome, I applaud that. And who knows? The fight might happen down the line. If Adesanya beats Whittaker, which is a very possible outcome, then you might see Jones vs. Adesanya because Jones is running out of good competition. So that might be a fight that happens down the line.”
“The Count” doesn’t necessarily believe Adesanya can beat Jones. However, he certainly thinks “The Last Stylebender” will have a more competitive matchup than people believe, despite his size disadvantage in comparison to Jones:
“I can see Israel giving him problems,” Bisping added. “It wouldn’t be fair [to] Jones to sit here and say Adesanya would beat him. But I think it’d be a good fight. I think it’d be more competitive than what people think. I agree with your point [co-host Luis Gomez], I think he does fight to his level. I think it’d be a pretty close fight. I’d see it, I’d pay for it, I’d buy that pay-per-view.”
Do you agree with Bisping?
