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With his impressive light heavyweight title run officially behind him now, UFC superstar Jon Jones was certain to hear warnings from other fighters about his move up to the heavyweight ranks. But the first such blast came from two divisions below his new weight class.
“Go put some f***ing muscle on your chopstick legs and go fight Francis Ngannou and watch him break you,” Israel Adesanya said. “I hope he doesn’t, though. Maybe he does. Who knows?”
Adesanya, 31, is currently the UFC’s middleweight champion, but the undefeated striking savant has been in a war of words with Jones over the last year or so as the two have continued to talk trash about potentially facing each other in a megafight.
Adesanya revealed during virtual media day for UFC 243 that he still plans on getting his hands on Jones even if he has to move up to heavyweight to do it.
“One hundred percent. It doesn’t change my plans,” Adesanya said. “My plan is still going forward as planned. So, yeah, same thing.”
Jon Jones’ move to heavyweight hasn’t changed @stylebender‘s plans: defend the middleweight belt “a few more times,” then go up in weight.
Adesanya Blasts Jones For Taking So Long
Adesanya blasted Jones for expecting the relatively new middleweight to move up to light heavyweight to face him in a new weight class while never having done that himself.
“Look how long it took him to move up to heavyweight, finally,” Adesanya said. “Like I said, he was expecting me to do it straight away, when I hadn’t even defended my belt yet. I’ve defended my belt twice now, I want to defend it a few more times and then do what I set out to do. But, yeah, the pot calling the kettle black on his part.”
According to UFC Record Book, Jones holds the company record for most title fight wins in UFC history at 14, all of which came in the 205-pound division the superstar dominated for over a decade.
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Adesanya Talks Upcoming Title Defense at UFC 253
Adesanya’s next fight is against undefeated Brazilian terror Paulo Costa at UFC 253 on September 26. The 185-pound champ revealed his next fight against the division’s top contender is exactly the kind of fight he needs in his career right now.
“What better antagonist than this guy, who was undefeated, a KO artist, he looks the way he does, ballooned up? It’s like David and Goliath,” Adesanya said. “I f*** this guy up, and it’s spectacular. As they say: Someone’s 0 has got to go. It’s a beautifully set up story. You couldn’t write this sh**. You could, but it’s real.”
Adesanya said he expects a spectacular performance from himself in his next fight, one that will help people forget the low output for which he and Yoel Romero combined in his last fight.
“I think a performance of the year, shutout of the year, shutdown of the year, maybe,” Adesanya said. “This guy gasses after the first round.”
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