Israel Adesanya is well aware of Jon Jones’s post-UFC 259 trolling, and he looks forward to making Bones choke on his words.
There are perhaps no two figures in the sport engaged in a more flammable war of words than Jon Jones and UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya. But one weapon that was missing from both men’s arsenals was the ability to attack the record of their counterpart.
Coming into March, neither man had been defeated other than the technicality DQ on Jones’s record. For Adesanya, he didn’t even have this minuscule blemish and instead presented a spotless record of 20-0 prior to challenging Jan Blachowicz for the light heavyweight championship at UFC 259.
All in all, it was a competitive fight, but a loss is a loss, and Jon Jones was enjoying every moment of his nemesis’ downfall, posting a series of celebratory tweets mocking Adesanya and the fans who believed in him. Ironically, Adesanya feels that the fallout from UFC 259 portrays more about Jones than it did about him, even though he was at the focal point of the event.
“That shows his character,” Adesanya said in an interview with ESPN released Wednesday. “Find a tweet of me tweeting and kicking him when everyone shits on him. He barely beat Thiago Santos. Dominick Reyes arguably kicked his ass. Find a tweet of me going at him and taking a victory lap. This shows the character of who we are. This shows the character of what kind of people we are.
“Time will tell. This just shows me his true character. So I’m like, all right, bet. This is how you want to play it? All right, cool. Wait till he loses.”
Adesanya Adamant That Jones Fight Is Far From Dead
Adesanya states that the difference between him and Jon Jones is that while Jones is celebrating off of something another man accomplished, it will be his own handiwork that has him rubbing salt in Jones’s wounds when the two face off. And despite Jones’s recent comments to the contrary, Adesanya is convinced that day will come.
“Fuck no. Hell no. Hell no,” Adesanya responded emphatically when asked if the Jones fight is dead. “This is just a little valley in my story. In any movie, in any anime series, you always have the valleys, and you rise up from that. This is just mine.
“That fight’s not dead. I’m coming for that ass.”
Adesanya is so determined to someday settle his difference with Jones mano y mano that it doesn’t matter if Jones loses at heavyweight before the fight is made. Regardless of the career trajectories either man is on, we are now past the stage of a superfight and have ventured into full-on grudge match territory.
“It’s deeper than fighting now. This is deeper than fighting. He knows. We know,” Adesanya assured.
Do you think we will see a fight between Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones in the future?
