Israel Adesanya shares timeframe for possible Jon Jones fight

Israel Adesanya still wants to fight Jon Jones.

When Adesanya first became UFC champion, he and Jones started to call each other out. Many fans wanted to see it take place and “The Last Stylebender” initially said the bout would happen in Las Vegas in the summer of 2021 at the new Raiders stadium. However, due to the pandemic, the timeframe has changed but Adesanya still wants the fight to happen.

In order for the fight to take place, Israel Adesanya knows the UFC needs fans in the arena. So, until the promotion can sell out an arena or stadium, the middleweight champ doesn’t think the Jones fight will happen.

“That fight needs a crowd,” Adesanya said to ESPN of him against Jones. “I can’t do that in an empty arena.”

If Israel Adesanya beats Jan Blachowicz in the main event of UFC 259 on Saturday to become the light heavyweight champ, the Jones fight does take a step forward. “Bones” used to run the 205-pound division, and it would be an easy move back down to face Adesanya in what would be one of the biggest fights in UFC history.

Adesanya, as mentioned, is set to face Blachowicz on Saturday to try and become a champ-champ. He is currently 20-0 as a pro and coming off a second-round TKO win over Paulo Costa to defend his belt for the second time. In his first title defense, he beat Yoel Romero by decision after winning the belt by second-round TKO over Robert Whittaker. He also holds wins over Kelvin Gastelum, Anderson Silva, Marvin Vettori, and Brad Tavares among others.

Jon Jones, meanwhile, is set to make his heavyweight debut later this year as he will face the winner of Stipe Miocic vs Francis Ngannou for the belt. If he wins the title, there could be a scenario where the Adesanya fight happens at heavyweight as the Kiwi would look to become a three-weight world champion.

Do you think we will ever see Israel Adesanya fight Jon Jones?