UFC champion Israel Adesanya has been told he would be "killed" by Jon Jones in a potential fight between the bitter rivals.
Adesanya and Jones have been trading words over a potential fight for several years, but the pair have since gone down very different paths. Jones hasn't fought since relinquishing his light-heavyweight title over two years ago whilst Adesanya has gone on to become the No.2 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the organisation, making five defences of his middleweight belt since winning the title in late 2019.
Jones, who is widely considered the greatest UFC fighter ever, welcomed a fight with Adesanya when he teased a move up to light-heavyweight but 'Stylebender' went on to lose his debut at the weight class to former champion Jan Blachowicz. Former two-weight UFC champion Henry Cejudo, who has been working with Jones ahead of his fighting return, has backed him to "kill" Adesanya in a potential fight.
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"Jones would kill Israel. If you were to let Jones like literally kill him, Jones would kill him," Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. "That's how much he doesn't like him. It's understood though too. The reason why I kind of started not becoming a fan of Israel is just because of the simple fact that he talked about his [Jon Jones'] mom who is deceased. For me that was like a dealbreaker. That's the stuff that really threw me off with Israel, that's really not cool man. There is somewhat limits to this stuff and you don't do that."
Two years ago, Adesanya was criticised by fans for involving Jones' late mother in their rivalry when he tweeted: "My pops already told me how I’d beat you. Trust me he knows. Your mom would be disappointed in who you’ve become." Jones then laughed at himself for arguing with Adesanya by replying: "Izzy thanks for giving me the opportunity to highlight my amazing mother this afternoon. I’m over here kicking myself for arguing with a man that watches cartoons. I did myself a disservice today."
A fight between Adesanya and Jones is unlikely to take place as 'Bones' has been bulking up in preparation for his heavyweight debut since vacating his 205lb title. Jones has been linked to an interim heavyweight title against former champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 282 on December 10, but the fight is not yet official. Adesanya looks to continue his reign as middleweight king at UFC 281 next month when he faces former kickboxing rival Alex Pereira at Madison Square Garden.
