WATCH: Israel Adesanya left mouth agape in shock as Jon Jones submits Ciryl Gane at UFC 285
Israel Adesanya had his mind blown by Jon Jones' incredible submission victory over Ciryl Gane at UFC 285. 'Bones' defeated the Frenchman in just over two minutes in the first round to win the vacant heavyweight title and become a two-division champion.
Despite the contentious relationship between the two, Adesanya praised Jones after witnessing the 35-year-old American rubbish all the 'ring rust' speculations and decimate his opponent via a first-round finish after a hiatus of over three years.
'The Last Stylebender' posted his watch-along reactions to last weekend's pay-per-view event on his YouTube channel. Israel Adesanya was sitting on the edge of his seat as he watched Jones make his heavyweight debut.
While he was relatively composed when 'Bones' took down 'Bon Gamin,' the Nigerian-born Kiwi could not help his shock when Gane tapped out after just 124 seconds in the cage with Jones. Making a "mind-blown" gesture with his hands, Adesanya exclaimed:
"Oh! What the f**k. No, what did he do? That was so subtle… Wow. Pressure on the head. I wanted more, but f**k, that’s impressive... The way he did it, easily, that was shocking.”
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While Jon Jones reigns as heavyweight champion, Israel Adesanya will look to reclaim the middleweight strap against Alex Pereira in their rematch at UFC 287 on April 8, 2023.
Jon Jones predicts Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira 2
Jon Jones doesn't see the UFC's middleweight title changing hands anytime soon. The legendary mixed martial artist, who recently claimed the No.1 pound-for-pound spot, is of the opinion that Alex Pereira will retain his title against Israel Adesanya when they meet at UFC 287.
'Poatan' shocked the combat sports community at UFC 281 when he managed to secure a fifth-round TKO victory over the long-reigning champion of the division.
Pereira was seemingly en-route to a decision loss heading into the final round of his bout against Adesanya. However, the Brazilian found 'The Last Stylebender' against the cage and unleashed a barrage of vicious blows, prompting the referee to halt the action as Adesanya was clearly compromised.
In a pre-fight UFC 285 media day interview, Jon Jones stated that he doesn't expect a different result in the rematch:
"I believe Pereira's going to win again. There's some athletes that just have other athlete's number. He works hard and I'm rooting for him. I believe he's going to do it again."
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