Jon Jones has made it very clear he’s not here to be a passenger on the Israel Adesanya ride, and he won’t bend over backward to accommodate a superfight between them.
A matchup between Jones (25-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC), a former UFC light heavyweight champion, and reigning UFC middleweight champion Adesanya (20-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) has felt inevitable for more than a year. The two have gotten into countless Twitter wars and exchanged many words in interviews. Things have been deeply personal, but Adesanya has remained consistent in his stance that the matchup will happen July 2021 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and be the “biggest fight in UFC history.”
The bout felt like it’s inching closer to reality when UFC president Dana White announced plans to have Adesanya move up to 205 pounds to challenge Jan Blachowicz, who now holds the title Jones vacated in the summer. A victory over Blachowicz in March would put Adesanya right on track for his predicted showdown, but how does that work for Jones?
He says his focus remains on a move up to heavyweight, and it’s by no means guaranteed he’ll oblige Adesanya (via Twitter):
Yeah just how he envisioned it, the arena he wanted and everything.
There’s not a man on this planet that tells me what to do. I march to the beat of my own drum.. there’s no red panty night for Izzy without me, I may just keep him broke https://t.co/U2SVJ4x7a8
— BONY (@JonnyBones) November 17, 2020
Yeah just how he envisioned it, the arena he wanted and everything.
Jones wrote that he’s “done playing little games” with Adesanya and is paying mind to making his own history. Jones vacated the 205-pound title because of his desire to make a long-awaited move up to heavyweight and add a second title to his resume, likely against the winner of Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou expected to happen in March.
Jones hasn’t fought since a narrow decision win over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in February. He hasn’t revealed when he’ll make his heavyweight debut, but it’s clearly still at the top of his list of priorities, and said that move means more to his career than waiting around for the Adesanya fight to materialize (via Twitter):
Outside of a gigantic payday, he does nothing for me. Anderson was the man to beat in that weight class, not him. The next biggest legacy move for me is Stipe and I want all the smoke https://t.co/eUW29mveJ5
— BONY (@JonnyBones) November 17, 2020
Outside of a gigantic payday, he does nothing for me. Anderson was the man to beat in that weight class, not him. The next biggest legacy move for me is Stipe and I want all the smoke
You’re joking right? I’ve been making millions since my early 20s, I don’t need a super fight with anyone. Fighting guys like Jan and Izzy does nothing for my legacy, winning the Heavyweight belt is the only thing that can bring me any higher than I already am #facts https://t.co/7ZBf2oc5TP
— BONY (@JonnyBones) November 17, 2020
You’re joking right? I’ve been making millions since my early 20s, I don’t need a super fight with anyone. Fighting guys like Jan and Izzy does nothing for my legacy, winning the Heavyweight belt is the only thing that can bring me any higher than I already am #facts
Jones’ overarching point appeared to be that he’s grown tired of entertaining the Adesanya matchup and is determined to enhance his own legacy rather than give someone else that opportunity. Jones said he truly believes Adesanya has no intention of sharing the octagon with him and is merely throwing out false promises (via Twitter):
You guys can believe that shit if you want to. He was too afraid to fight me at light heavyweight, now you actually believe he’ll meet me to HW. Love how you guys eat that silly shit up, keep buying those wolf tickets https://t.co/6esUBIfC00
— BONY (@JonnyBones) November 17, 2020
You guys can believe that shit if you want to. He was too afraid to fight me at light heavyweight, now you actually believe he’ll meet me to HW. Love how you guys eat that silly shit up, keep buying those wolf tickets