Eugene Bareman, the head coach of Israel Adesanya, says his pupil is set on fighting Jon Jones.
For the last couple of months, Adesanya and Jones have been talking back and forth and it was expected they would meet in 2021. Yet, after “The Last Stylebender” beat Paulo Costa at UFC 253 the trash talk has only increased and for Adesanya, he wants that fight.
“With Israel as set upon doing that fight, as long as he has the blessing of his team, his group of coaches, including me, he has got his heart set on doing that fight. It doesn’t matter where Jon Jones goes,” Bareman said to Submission Radio (via MMAFighting). “If he goes to heavyweight, goes to light heavyweight, goes up and loses two fights, three fights, wins the next three fights, Israel has his heart set on that fight. So yeah, that fight’s gonna happen, I’m just not sure when.
“If we needed to fight that fight in the next six months, then I would be happy to do that, but again, that’s a team decision,” Bareman added. “That’s how we work.”
There is no question, Israel Adesanya vs. Jon Jones would be a massive fight. Yet, it would be bigger if a belt is on the line so perhaps one of them tries to win the light heavyweight title so a belt could be on the line. For now, a fight between them seems inevitable at this point.
