Israel Adesanya is preparing to challenge for an interim UFC middleweight championship. “Stylebender” meets Kelvin Gastelum in the co-main event of UFC 236 next month. However, it looks like the Nigerian striker has his eyes on a big superfight down the road. Speaking to Submission Radio recently, Adesanya said he believes he and Jones will one day share the Octagon together (via MMA Mania):
“Jones and Silva have spoken about fighting each other for years as well, but that never came to fruition,” Adesanya said. “This I feel is different. So yeah, I look forward to that challenge as well.”
Both Jones and Adesanya are currently preoccupied. Adesanya is approaching the biggest fight of his career against Gastelum. As for Jones, he’s expected to be matched up with the heavy-hitting Thiago Santos for his next 205-pound title defense. However, Adesanya knows Jones already has him on his radar.
During UFC 235 fight week, Jones mentioned a possible fight with Adesanya at some point down the road – and “Stylebender” took notice:
“That shows you how serious they’re taking me, the smart ones, how much they know I’m a threat, how serious they’re taking me,” Adesanya said.
“Like, [Jones] mentioned it on fight week of 235 or whatever, and then I went back two weeks prior on messages with Eugene when I put the question out there, how are we going to beat Jon Jones? And he kind of just laid down the rough blueprint. And I blurred a lot of it out, but yeah, we’re focusing on Gastelum.”
What do you think about a potential bout between Adesanya and Jones?
