Israel Adesanya believes “the story” with Jon Jones isn’t over: “I don’t like him, he doesn’t like me”

By Josh Evanoff - June 12, 2023

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya believes his story with Jon Jones isn’t over.

Israel Adesanya

‘The Last Stylebender’ is currently awaiting his next title challenger. In April, he scored a second-round knockout win over Alex Pereira to re-earn UFC gold. While there was brief talk of a trilogy bout, ‘Poatan’ later announced plans to move to light-heavyweight, with his debut slated for July.

Meanwhile, the middleweight champion is awaiting his next opponent, who will be Robert Whittaker or Dricus du Plessis. The two are slated to face off at UFC 290 next month, in a title eliminator bout. Nonetheless, Adesanya has some free time as he awaits his next fight, which has led to several interesting comments.

In a recent podcast appearance, Israel Adesanya seemingly buried the hatchet with Jon Jones. During a edition of Impaulsive, the middleweight champion stated that he’s long been a fan of ‘Bones’. He also added that growth is important, signaling that he’s done feuding with the heavyweight champion.

However, that doesn’t mean that they won’t fight one day. In a recent interview On The MMA Hour, Adesanya discussed his long-running rivalry with Jones. There, he admitted that the two still don’t like each other, and the story between them isn’t done. However, he’s unsure the fight will happen.

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Israel Adesanya

“I’ve never had a conversation with this guy, ever,” Israel Adesanya stated on The MMA Hour. “So how am I going to have a friendship, or buddy-dom with someone I’ve never talked to? We’ve beefed. I don’t like him, he doesn’t like me, but we respect each other’s skills. I was a fan before I was even in the UFC, youngest UFC champion, did a lot of great things for his career. Then he called me out and I was like ‘The f*ck did I do to you?’, so I went back at him.”

He continued, “We went back for a bit on Twitter, which was fun. But, you know, the story’s not over.”

What do you make of these comments? Do you want to see Israel Adesanya vs. Jon Jones?

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


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Israel Adesanya Jon Jones UFC