This past weekend at UFC 253, Israel Adesanya (20-0) put on the performance of his career when he successfully defended his title against Paulo Costa (13-1). One of the more active voices on Twitter during the fight was pound for pound great, Jon Jones (26-1, 1 NC).
Jones and Adesanya have gone back and forth through the media for sometime now. The two UFC champions do not like each other and have long talked about a potential fight between the two. I personally think it’s the fight for the UFC to make.
While the fight is the fight that UFC fans want to see, Adesanya has cautioned that he wanted to clean out the middleweight division first. Of course, Jones has pointed this out saying that Adesanya didn’t have the courage to step into the cage with him.
The former UFC light heavyweight champion is currently preparing for his move to heavyweight. However, he would of course drop back down to light heavyweight to take on the UFC‘s middleweight champion, Adesanya. Jones said that he would literally tear one of Adesanya’s arms off.
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Betting odds for the potential UFC super fight
Yesterday, Bovada released betting odds on the potential matchup between the two fighters. The former UFC light heavyweight champion opened as a massive favorite over Israel Adesanya. Jones was a -375 favorite. The odds give Jones about a 79% chance of defeating Adesanya.
It would be a fascinating fight to watch for UFC fans. Adesanya is probably the best pure striker in the UFC, however, he’s never fought someone with the range of Jon Jones. Jones also probably has the best striking defense out of anyone Adesanya has faced in the UFC.
Despite these things, I don’t think Jones would entertain standing with Adesanya. Jones said in an interview with Ariel Helwani that he would fully plan on taking Adesanya to the ground and beating him up.
It’s hard to predict the fight without it actually being booked, but I tend to agree with the odds the way they are currently. I do think Jones would be able to get Adesanya down, and if he did that, it would be a nightmare for Adesanya to get up. However, if it stays standing, Jones could have his hands full especially with leg kicks.