Jon Jones and Israel Adesanya fight in different divisions, yet they have time to hunt each other down
The rivalry between Jon Jones and Israel Adesanya isn’t dying down, even with the coronavirus pandemic shutting UFC events.
Dana White wanted to host UFC 249 but Disney and ESPN pulled the plug on that. UFC fans have been left in the lurch with hopes of it returning soon but are still getting a taste of some rivalries thanks to social media.
Adesanya vs Jones is one of the weirder ones, given that the pair are in different divisions. Jones is considered as one of the greatest ever in the world of MMA while Adesanya is unbeaten in his career too.
Jones is the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion while Adesanya is the current Middleweight Champion. They both are unlikely to meet in the Octagon anytime soon, so how is there so much bad blood between them?
Starts as a school yard fight
Both stars have taken shots at each other regularly with Jones hitting out on Adesanya’s love for anime.
The New Zealand-Nigerian star, however, has provided details of how the rivalry actually started.
One account says Jones used to be a fan of his but all that stopped on Instagram after Adesanya started winning.
Another account from the Middleweight champion came on the Joe Rogan Experience.
“He started it.
“I think it’s because I’m the freshman. I’m the guy he wishes he was. He is a fan, trust me, he is a fan, he is my biggest fan.”
Adesanya added that Jones was also upset about certain issues he has had in the past, and that was the point that gets him riled up:
“I think he sees himself like I could have been that cool if I didn’t f*** all this up.”
Verbal volleys follow
Adesanya also had a go at Jones early in mid-2019 and claimed that the Light Heavyweight champion wasn’t as great as when there was no drug testing.
"He WAS great when he was fighting and there wasn't USADA around…"@stylebender says Jon Jones "needs to get back on the pictograms" to be great again (via @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/4oHbmTmPIH
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 8, 2019
Jones too hasn’t taken these words kindly and has hit out at Adesanya in the past and in the present too.
The war of words continued now with Adesanya calling Jones out again in March 2020.
@JonnyBones being @JonnyBones
Some goats are stubborn, some goats are just stupid lol #mememajesty pic.twitter.com/aDFg8ukHfI— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) March 27, 2020
Adesanya then recently called Jones a ‘p****’ and the Light Heavyweight champion didn’t take that lightly.
He launched a scathing attack on Adesanya and posted something rather brutal too but he deleted that.
Adesanya wasn’t going to let this go either and had a go at Jones again:
Did he do a post & delete Dwight?
I been ko’d once and I never made that mistake again.
How many times you been arrested?
How many times you pissed hot?
How many times you had your belt taken off you? (someone answer these)
You never learn you PulsingPictoPussy. pic.twitter.com/qYhEgnWwlm— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) April 13, 2020
A fight between the pair is the logical decision and it might happen if Adesanya moves up a weight class.
Jones vs Adesanya could be one of the great fights in UFC history, and their rivalry is only getting more heated with each passing day.
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