Jon Jones and Israel Adesanya have been going back and forth on social media for a while now. The Light heavyweight legend has been critical of Adesanya on multiple occasions, and “Izzy” has always replied befittingly. 

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At some point, MMA fans hoped that the war of words between Jones and Adesanya actually materialize into a fight. However, recent developments have crushed the dreams of all MMA fans. Jones relinquished his light heavyweight title to move up a weight class. 

Since Jones is now two weight classes above “The Last Stylebender,” a potential match up becomes even more of a challenge. In a recent media call, Israel was asked if Jones’ move up to heavyweight has dwindled the possibility of a potential matchup. To which Izzy replied saying, “Nope, still have that in mind, that’s still part of my plan.”

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The Nigerian-born Adesanya added that Jones has been in the sport for a long time and has defended his title multiple times before moving up a weight class. Hence, he will not move up before cementing his legacy at middleweight.

I’m never going to let anyone make me fold, or make a move ahead of schedule and I’m sticking to that plan.”

Israel Adesanya focused on Paulo Costa ahead of UFC 253

The New Zealand resident maintains that he is fully focused on Paulo Costa ahead of his second title defense. Moreover, Adesanya stated that Costa is “Perfect for him.”

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He is going to come out swinging and I am going to clown him.” 

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With a little over two weeks to go for the main event title fight at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, the excitement for this fight is palpable. It will be interesting to see how Adesanya will fare against an undefeated challenger in Paulo Costa. Both men are undefeated, but “someone’s 0 has got to go.” Whose will it be?

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Kevin Binoy

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Kevin Binoy is a senior UFC author at EssentiallySports. He earned a Bachelor's degree from Fergusson College and has been covering sports professionally for over two years. Besides working with the MMA desk, Kevin is a core member of the organization's web stories team and is responsible for delivering engaging MMA web stories. He has also written for a soccer website named Dribl. Kevin has covered monumental MMA moments such as Khabib Nurmagomedov's retirement at UFC 254 and Conor McGregor's maiden MMA TKO defeat at UFC 257. He was attracted to MMA when he watched Ronda Rousey demolish Cat Zingano in 2015. Following 'Rowdy's departure, he has gravitated towards fighters like Jon Jones and 'The Eagle' Khabib Nurmagomedov. In his spare time, Kevin enjoys the sport of horse riding and also plays soccer regularly.

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