Israel Adesanya Reveals the Origin of the RIvalry With Jon Jones

Israel Adesanya is on his way to be one of the biggest stars in UFC. His fight against Robert Whittaker in the main event of UFC 243 is the biggest in the middleweight division yet. A sold-out Marvel Stadium will be there to witness this title unification fight. A win over Whittaker will certainly put Adesanya on the top of the mountain in terms of when popularity and greatness.

Related: Whittaker vs Adesanya Fight Analysis

If the Nigerian born can get past Whittaker, then he has a couple of fighters waiting for him on the other side and Jon Jones is one of them. Adesanya and Jones have been battling it out on social media and interviews for a meaningful period now. They both have been dismissive towards each others’ recent achievements.

Israel Adesanya has even confirmed the time frame and the venue where he wants to fight Jones. However, how does this rivalry even started? Talking about Jones Adesanya said:

“He used to follow me on Instagram. This is when I was a fan. Then eventually I realized cause I could not comment. So this guy unfollowed me. then he came out on TMZ and dropped my name first, that’s when I was like That’s why I did that. Cause then he saw I wanna fight this guy. He then put me as an opponent in his mind. He was a fan. He is still a fan. He loves what I do. I am sure he is gonna watch this fight this weekend and he is gonna enjoy what I am doing. But now he sees the money that we can make together. And I like that too. I welcome it.“

Well, it’s safe to assume that Jones and Adesanya are on collision course now. Adesanya has claimed that he is moving up after he cleans out the middleweight division. Paulo Costa, Jared Cannonier, and Yoel Romero are the fighters against whom Adesanya wants to defend his title. Adesanya has even criticized Jones for not moving up to heavyweight division even after dominating the light heavyweight division for years now.

Adesanya implied that Jon Jones is insecure because he is not the dominating figure that he used to be in the past and that place is now claimed by Adesanya himself. Adesanya also pointed out that Jones tarnished his legacy thanks to his controversial actions outside the octagon. 

Jon Jones has been very outspoken on this rivalry. He has even claimed that he would decimate Adesanya inside the octagon. Responding to that Adesanya said:

“That’s what he has to say to make himself feel good. he is already a living legend. But i am on my way there as well. he has to say what he has to say. And I do the same thing. I have my own witchcraft to get myself off for fights. I don’t know if he means it and I don’t care. Eventually, we will fight. I have already set the date. I have already set the stadium. I have put it all in line.”

Well, even UFC president, Dana White has shown interest in this super fight. However, Israel Adesanya has to get past Robert Whittaker in UFC 243 in the biggest fight of his career.