Getty
According to UFC president Dana White, a fight between middleweight champ Israel Adesanya and former light heavyweight champ Jon Jones “is the fight to make.” The two fighters have been going back and forth on social media for the past week, hurtling savage insults and each other.
Adesanya has been vocal about wanting to fight “Bones” in 2021 and Jones seemingly wants the fight as well.
Speaking with UFC Arabia, White was asked about the recent feud between Jones and Adesanya and if that was the fight to make.
“Yeah, that’s the fight to make, 100 percent,” White said. “I think that a fight between those two is massive.”
White was then asked if he wanted to make the fight as soon possible, the UFC president responded, “I don’t know. It doesn’t depend on what I want, it depends on what they want to do. Adesanya is the champ, he’s really coming into his own and you can tell he knows this is his house and he comes in and acts like it. I think he wants the winner of [Robert] Whittaker and Jared [Cannonier] and then we’ll see what happens after that.”
No. 1 ranked middleweight and former champion Whittaker is set to take on the surging No. 3 ranked Cannonier during UFC 254 on October 24. After his victory at UFC 253 on September 26, Adesanya stated that he was interested in defending his title next against Cannonier.
Follow the Heavy on UFC Facebook page for the latest breaking news, rumors and content!
Dana White Views Adesanya’s Fight During UFC 253 as Performance of the Year
White told UFC Arabia how impressed he was with Adesanya’s recent performance during the main event of UFC 253. “The Last Stylebender” stepped inside the Octagon for his second title defense and he dominated Paulo Costa en route to a second-round TKO.
“I thought it was going to be Fight of the Year and it definitely ended up being Performance of the Year,” White said. “He went in and destroyed Costa, made it look easy and his stock is through the roof right now.”
With the victory, Adesanya improved his professional mixed martial arts record to 20-0. Costa suffered the first defeat of his career and his record fell to 13-1.
Jones & Adesanya Restarted Their Trash Talking After UFC 253
There has been no love lost between Bones and The Last Stylebender. Since Adesanya’s victory at UFC 253, the two fighters have been throwing verbal jabs at each other frequently on social media.
Adesanya spoke with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani last week about Jones and their rivalry. Adesanya said, “Hey, Jon, shut the f*** up forever.”
“I can’t wait, man,” The Last Stylebender continued. “Like I said, he needs me. I’ve said this before, he’s jealous. He saw this young, Black guy, this freshman come up and do all the things he wished he could have done. And when I said that earlier on one of your shows, people were like ‘He’s jealous of you?’”
He continued, “I’m like, you guys don’t understand. It’s easy, I’ve been there before. So, I can see it in other people.”
“He’s jealous of me because I’m getting all the shine he wishes he has,” he said. “I’m getting all the attention he wishes he had.”
A few days ago, Jones told Adesanya he was waiting for him. To read more on that, tap the link below.
READ NEXT: UUFC Superstar Jon Jones Issues Challenge: ‘I’m Waiting for You’