Jon Jones claims fighting him would be valuable addition to Israel Adesanya's resume; wants to fight the UFC middleweight champion in Australia
Jon Jones is a phenomenon of the fight game. The reigning UFC light heavyweight champion boasts a professional record of 25 wins and a solitary loss via disqualification for an illegal knee and he is currently ranked #1 in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings.
With this kind of a repertoire, it is all but obvious that Jones doesn't need to take on any fighter in the promotion to prove himself, which is exactly why he isn't sweating over a high profile fight against the current middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in the near future.
Adesanya has often taken digs at Jones and expressed the desire to move up to light heavyweight to fight the champion. This led to the pair trading barbs via social media and interviews. Jones is set to face Dominick Reyes in the headliner of UFC 247 this Saturday, and ahead of the fight, Jones explained why the prospect of a fight against Adesanya doesn't really bother him. (h/t MMA Fighting)
“Honestly, I have no interest in Israel, at the end of the day. Anderson Silva was a guy everyone wanted to see me fight and I never wanted to do it because I had so much respect for Anderson. I feel the same way with Izzy but it’s not coming from a place of respect.
Jones made it clear that fighting Adesanya won't benefit him in any way. If anything, it would be a valuable addition to the middleweight champ's resume.
“It’s like my career isn’t based around fighting him. Him to fight me, it would be huge for his resume. But for me, I feel like I already have so many legends under my resume but he’s not even a legend.”
Although he said that the fight doesn't matter much to him, Jones did express the desire to fight Adesanya in Australia, where the latter is popular because he believes that the fight could rake in huge numbers.
“If I can possibly break numbers here in Houston, I can only imagine what could happen if I went to Australia or one of these other countries where they never expect to see me,” Jones said. “I think the people would come out and that’s what it’s about. Giving love, sharing it.[Adesanya] is [a big draw in Australia’. I bet I’d be an even bigger [draw].”