Dana White interested in booking Israel Adesanya vs. Jon Jones

UFC president Dana White says he is open to booking a superfight between UFC interim middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

White was interviewed by Sky Sport News ahead of UFC 243 and was asked about a potential bout between “The Last Stylebender” and “Bones,” who have been jawing back and forth at each other on social media the last couple of days.

The UFC’s head honcho admitted it’s a fight he is very interested in booking.

“Yeah, I mean those guys have been talking smack back and forth,” White said. “If Israel wins (at UFC 243) and he really does want to fight Jon Jones, then that’s a really big fight.”

Adesanya is emerging as one of the sport’s biggest stars. Although he only started fighting in the UFC in February 2018, he’s already amassed a 6-0 record inside the Octagon. If he can beat UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and unify the interim titles this weekend at UFC 243, he could explode into a bonafide superstar in mainstream sports. In recent days he’s called out both Jones and UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic.

As for Jones, the long-time UFC light heavyweight champion has been looking for his next opponent. We thought it could be Jan Blachowicz, but he was booked against Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in Brazil, so at present time Jones is in a holding pattern. It’s possible the UFC could book Jones against the winner of Dominick Reyes vs. Chris Weidman, which takes place in just a few weeks, but there’s no doubt a fight against Adesanya is bigger.

Of course, all of this hedges on Adesanya defeating Whittaker this weekend at UFC 243, and that won’t be easy. But if he can get the win and then calls out Jones for a superfight, the UFC may have no choice but to go ahead and make that fight happen.

Would you like to see Israel Adesanya fight Jon Jones?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/3/2019.