Israel Adesanya wants to have some successful UFC middleweight title defenses before meeting Jon Jones.
Adesanya and Jones have had their share of social media spats. Both men have gotten fight fans excited for what could be in store in the future, but Jones vs. Adesanya isn’t a fight UFC president Dana White wants to book right now. With Adesanya having just captured the middleweight gold, few are arguing with the UFC boss.
Adesanya Wants To Rule Middleweight First, Then Fight Jones
Damon Martin of MMAFighting.com spoke to Adesanaya, who said that he wants to have a solid reign as the middleweight champion before he’s satisfied enough to move up and fight Jones.
“I just got my middleweight title in April, and I defended it for the first time in October,” Adesanya told MMA Fighting. “I want to defend my belt against all the middleweights that are the biggest threats supposedly before I jump up in weight. If Jon wants to fight me now, he’s got to come down to middleweight.
“I’ve got a plan. I never, ever deviate from my plans. He’s not going to make me move from what I have in my head first. I’ve got all these killers at middleweight to whoop first before I get to him, and then I’ll whoop Jon Jones’ ass.”
Adesanya’s first title defense isn’t clear. While many expected Paulo Costa to be “The Last Stylebender’s” first challenger, he underwent surgery and will not meet Adesanya as soon as initially planned.
