Israel Adesanya Clears Up His Fued With Jon Jones – ‘We Had Beef, Real Recognize Real’
Israel Adesanya has opened up on his verbal war of words with Jon Jones over the years.
The pair have been very vocal on social media, which has led to speculation that a mega fight could be on the cards.
Adesanya is the man to beat in the middleweight division following his spectacular second-round KO of Alex Pereira, the only man he has lost to in the UFC, outside of Jan Blachowicz.
Slow motion shot of the Israel Adesanya’s KO over Alex Pereira at UFC 287 pic.twitter.com/j6n4aGVmKr
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) April 10, 2023
In contrast, Jones is the current UFC heavyweight champion and arguably one of the greatest UFC fighters of all time, having become undisputed at light heavyweight.
And for Jones, he did not hide his admiration for Adesanya who was his favorite fighter.
“Israel Adesanya, him and I are not friends but he’s probably the most entertaining guy in the organisation right now.
“His whole story with [Alex] Pereira, that whole saga they had, it was probably the most entertaining thing I’ve seen out of the UFC in a while,” Adesanya
With that being said, Adesanya responded to Jones’ comments that he was his ‘favorite’ UFC fighter.
“I’ve been a fan of Jon since I saw him at UFC 94, he fought Stephan Bonnar, rest in peace. I saw what he did in that fight.
“I was a fan and I think he was as well, but then he mentioned something about ‘I’d like to fight Israel’ and I was like, ‘Why the f*** was this guy wanting to fight me? I’m middleweight,” Adesanya
Nevertheless, the chances of a fight between the pair is unlikely. Weight classes are there for a reason, and the difference at the heavier divisions may prove too much for Adesanya to put on the pounds.
Not only that, but it is unlikely to expect Jones to drop down in weight given that he is the current heavyweight champion.
Although a catchweight could be considered, Adesanya’s following comments suggest that a fight is still some way off.
“We had beef. For a few years it was like that, then after I fought [Paulo] Costa it went really deep.
“That was around the time it could have happened, but I don’t know what happened. Scheduling, COVID reasons, and I fought Jan [Blachowicz]. But yeah, real recognize real, I’ll put it that way.
“For me, growth is something you have to go through as a human being, as a man especially. Maturity.
“There was a point where … I came into the UFC and I felt like — it’s up to him to admit this — I felt like he was a fan, but then he was kind of like, ‘Ugh, there’s another coming into this game and taking this shine.’ But there’s enough room for us to shine,” Adesanya
The social media response, however, suggested that Adesanya was ducking Jones.
Social Media Reaction
@JonnyBones will whoop @stylebender ass.. there’s no way Adensanya can beat Jon Jones.
— Jnew (@New93795819) June 12, 2023
He’s scared
— Blah Z. Blah (@Blah_Z_Blah) June 12, 2023
Scared
— Add (@AddyAsap199) June 12, 2023
The fight may not be forthcoming, but if the demand for it on social media continues to increase, then the pressure from the fans may get it over the line. Time will tell.
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