Israel Adesanya on Jon Jones move to heavyweight: “Fight Francis Ngannou and watch him break you”

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has weighed in on Jon Jones’ plan to move up to the heavyweight division.

Jon Jones has stepped away from his light heavyweight crown after a dispute with the UFC regarding a possible Francis Ngannou super fight. He accused UFC president Dana White of lying about contract negotiations and not paying him what he deserves.

Following Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic’s heavyweight title bout at UFC 252, White confirmed that Jones won’t be fighting Ngannou next but his potential move up to heavyweight is nevertheless “interesting.”

Now, the middleweight champion, Adesanya, has weighed in on the former light heavyweight champion’s plans, as he is convinced the Cameroonian fighter will “break” him.

“Look how long it took him to move up to heavyweight,” Adesanya said at a UFC 253 media call (via 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 (expletive) muscle on your chopstick legs and go (expletive) fight Francis Ngannou and watch him break you. I hope he doesn’t, though. Maybe he does. Who knows?”

The two decorated champions have a simmering feud that has been bubbling away since Adesanya claimed the middleweight crown against Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 in October 2019. They have both hurled insults at each other, but Jones has rejected the idea of a possible matchup against Adesanya. However, Adesanya intends on taking on the 205 and 265-pound divisions once he has cemented his legacy in the middleweight division

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

Would you prefer to watch Jon Jones fight, Francis Ngannou or Israel Adesanya?