UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has cleaned out the 205-pound division so he is looking for new challenges. Could rising middleweight star Israel Adesanya be the rival that Jones needs? While both men have title fights booked, there is a growing beef through the media that has mixed martial arts fans dreaming of the idea of the two men going head-to-head inside of the cage.
It all started when Adesanya had an interview with TMZ and said a fight with Jones “does tickle my loins.” He is focused on an upcoming interim middleweight title fight with Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236 on Saturday in Atlanta, but he does have some interest in a potential fight with Jones.
“I already killed one G.O.A.T. and I’m hunting the next,” Adesanya told TMZ Sports.
Well, Jones caught wind of the comments and issued a response on Twitter with some championship-level sub-tweeting.
“If you think you killed 44 yr old Anderson, you didn’t. I’m not really sure what fight you’ve been watching. You got past the legendary GOAT, now come f*ck with the King of the jungle,” Jones tweeted. “I’ll make you call me daddy by the third.”
The thought of a potential Jones vs. Adesanya bout should have MMA fans salivating.
And while we may have to wait a while before the two men cross paths, it is clear that “The Last Stylebender” is already on Jones’ radar. Jones previously commented on Adesanya in a March TMZ interview.
“I’ve got a feeling me and him will eventually fight each other,” he said at the time.
Jones is set to return to action during International Fight Week when he defends his light heavyweight title against Thiago “Marreta” Santos at UFC 239 in Las Vegas. It will be Jones third fight since December 2018, with a KO of Alexander Gustafsson and a unanimous decision over Anthony Smith under his belt.
Adesanya, meanwhile, holds a perfect professional record of 16-0. His most recent outing was a win over former middleweight king Anderson Silva. Since joining the UFC, Adesanya has earned $50,000 bonuses in four of his five fights — three Performance of the Night and one Fight of the Night bonus.
