Israel Adesanya has just won the undisputed middleweight title but moving up to a new weight class is not yet on his radar.
Scoring his biggest win so far in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the ‘Last Stylebender’ made short work of Robert Adesanya in the main event of UFC 243 last month to unify the middleweight titles.
It was his seventh straight victory in the UFC, proving that he is one of the biggest stars in the competition at the moment.
For his first official title defense, Adesanya is eyeing a clash with Yoel Romero as Paulo Costa, who loomed as the top candidate for the next title shot, needs to sit out for eight months due to an injury.
It looks like it might take quite some time before we see the former kickboxing phenom jumps to 205 pounds to face his ultimate enemy, Jon Jones.
“I just got my middleweight title in April, and I defended it for the first time in October,” Adesanya said in a recent interview with MMA Fighting.
“I want to defend my belt against all the middleweights that are the biggest threats supposedly before I jump up in weight.”
Staying Active
With Adesanya planning to sweep all contenders in the middleweight class, he said a possible timeline for the Jones super fight would be on 2021.
But if the light heavyweight champ really wants to pursue this fight, Adesanya would be very willing to welcome him at 185.
“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.”
“He’s trying do what Mayweather did to ‘Canelo.’ Mayweather fought ‘Canelo’ while he was still coming up [and] caught him early, so he’s trying that with me.”
The Kiwi-Nigerian has fought seven times in his first 20 months with the UFC and he sees another busy schedule ahead of him next year.
“Look at my first year in the company.”
““I got through five guys. That’s why I say 2021 whenever I talk about him. Because I’m not like guys who fight once or twice a year and then chill. I like to stay active.
Been There Done That
Adesanya, though, is worried that Jones may no longer be the light heavyweight champ when 2021 comes.
“And he knows if he has to beat me, do it yesterday, because every single time you see me, I’m getting better and better and better.”
“It all depends on what his career is like, if he sticks around.”
“If he does something stupid and gets sent to jail or gets popped for some more picograms, all that sh*t. It’s up to him if he sticks around.”
“I gave him a date — 2021 — by then I will have cleaned out the middleweight division. I just want to clean it out.”
“I’ve done it in kickboxing, I’ve done it in boxing. After you clean out a division, you move up in weight.”
Will Adesanya and Jones share the cage in the future? If it happens, will Adesanya beat the MMA GOAT?
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones?