Dana White weighs in on when UFC can book Israel Adesanya vs Jon Jones

Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones have been having constant back-and-forths on Twitter ever since the former defeated Paulo Costa at UFC 253. However, their feud dates back to longer than that and they have been trading shots at each other for a while now.

This seems to have captured the interest of Dana White, who told UFC Arabia that he believes Israel Adesanya vs Jon Jones is the fight to make: (H/T MMAJunkie)

“That’s the fight to make, 100 percent,” White said on Friday. “I think that a fight between those two is massive.”

When asked about when it would be realistic for UFC to book Israel Adesanya vs Jon Jones, Dana White stated that it's not about what he wants, but it depends on what the two fighters want. He praised Israel Adesanya and knows that he wants Jared Cannonier next:

“It doesn’t depend on what I want; it depends on what they want to do,” White said. “Adesanya is a champ. He’s really coming into his own, and you can tell he knows this is his house, and he comes and acts like it. I think he wants the winner of Whittaker and Cannonier, and then we’ll see what happens after that.”

When is a realistic timeline to book Israel Adesanya vs Jon Jones?

Jon Jones' move to Heavyweight may have further delayed the possibility of the UFC booking his fight against Israel Adesanya. While Jon Jones teased going back to Light Heavyweight to face newly-crowned Champion Jan Blachowicz, there seems to be no concrete plan for him.

The fact of the matter is that he could easily get an immediate title shot at Heavyweight, but Dana White made it clear that Francis Ngannou will get the next title shot. Either way, late 2021 seems to be the earliest that the UFC could book that fight, and even then, that seems to be a stretch.