Throughout the course of time, many rivalries have captivated the audience in the world of MMA. Sometimes it’s the genuine bad blood that boils leading up to the fight, sometimes it’s the personal hate that goes far beyond sheer competitiveness. One such rivalry that has been brewing up for quite some time is the one between Jon Jones and Israel Adesanya.
During a virtual media day back in 2020, Adesanya mentioned moving up to heavyweight to face Jon Jones.
When asked if he would move up weight classes eventually to face Jones, Izzy responded, “One hundred percent. It doesn’t change my plans. My plan is still going forward as planned. So, yeah, same thing.”
In another interview with Submission Radio, Izzy added “It’s never been an issue for me. I’ve been a heavyweight in boxing, in kickboxing. I’ll do it again in MMA. So, it’s never been an issue for me. He can try and run to heavyweight, but I’ll chase him down. I’ll hunt him down if I have to.”
Recently, ‘Izzy’ took over to his YouTube channel to post his ‘reaction’ video, a ritual that he has been doing for a while where he basically watches a live PPV event along with his close friends and gives his honest reaction. Fans were especially waiting on this one because it involved his potential future ‘dance partner’ Jon Jones.
While Adesanya was all praise for Jon for his dominant performance at UFC 285, what aroused the curiosity of the fans is that he didn’t even mention a potential showdown between him and ‘Bones’, something that he has been very vocal about in the past.
Fans are pleased to watch Israel Adesanya praising Jon Jones
Fans would have been in for a treat for sure, had Jon and Israel mutually decided to meet at a particular weight class. The idea of such a fight has been thrown out quite a few times by Izzy, one which he wanted to be specifically hosted at the Raiders Stadium in Paradise, Nevada.
As soon as the video was posted on Izzy’s YouTube channel, fans didn’t waste any time expressing how they felt about it.
A fan who went by the username ‘Soto’ said, “Izzy a real one for not showing any disrespect towards Jon and actually giving him a lot of credit. Y’all both 2 of my favorite fighters of all time. Blessed to be able to watch both of you compete. Also ik you were trying not to laugh at Jon’s post fight interview 
that shit was too funny not too I don’t think anybody expected him to say that shit.”
“Gotta love how izzy end of the day is always respectful even if it appears it’s bad blood between him and someone else, dude shows props . He legit is forever a fan. And keeps it humble.”, said another fan.
“Jones gave Izzy a shout-out in shopping with complex interview and now Izzy is matching the energy of respect and humility … 2 GOATS.”, said a fan of both Jones and Izzy.
Will we ever see Israel move up two weight classes to face Jon Jones for a clash of the ages? Or will he continue to stay in the stacked middleweight division? Let us know in the comments down below.
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