Skip to main content

Israel Adesanya is unfazed by Jon Jones’ potential move to heavyweight.

Yesterday, Jones announced he was vacating his world light heavyweight title before subsequently stating he thought negotiations with the UFC were about to begin regarding a move up in weight to the heavyweight division. Adesanya, with whom Jones has had a long-running back and forth, said Jones’ decision had little bearing on his own plans.

“Look how long it took him to move up to heavyweight,” Adesanya said, speaking on a UFC 253 media call (H/T MMAJunkie). “Finally. He was expecting me to do it straight away but I hadn’t defended my belt yet. I’ve defended my belt twice now, I’m going to defend it a few more times and then do what I set out to do. But yeah, the pot calling the kettle black on his part. Go put some fucking muscle on your chopstick legs and go fight Francis Ngannou and watch him break you. I hope he doesn’t, though. Maybe he does. Who knows.”

Adesanya is scheduled to meet Paulo Costa at UFC 253 on September 26, although the location is currently uncertain. Either way, Adesanya won’t be chasing Jones, he’ll be chasing his own legacy.

“100 percent it doesn’t change my plans,” Adesanya said. “My plan is still going forward as planned. So yeah, same thing.”