Robert Whittaker believes he could give Jon Jones ‘a run for his money’

A new interim UFC middleweight champion was crowned this past Saturday night when Israel Adesanya would defeat Kelvin Gastelum via a thrilling unanimous decision.

Prior to the bout, there were brief mentions from Adesanya and current light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones of one another in some interviews. Since then, the two have gone back and forth in a much deeper depth than we could have expected them to.

However, they won’t be fighting next or likely any time soon as Jones is set to defend his title against Thiago Santos at UFC 239 in July while Adesanya awaits a unification bout with the undisputed 185-pound champion, Robert Whittaker.

When asked about the interactions between Jones and Adesanya, ‘The Reaper’ didn’t mince words.

“I think Jon Jones would kill him,” Whittaker said to Submission Radio with a laugh. “Yeah, I think it’s silly, but then Israel just kind of take jabs and bites out of everyone, doesn’t he? Yeah, he’s got a big mouth.

“He’s (Jones) kind of cleaned out his division. It’s one of those things, like, yeah, we’ll have to wait and see. I’m gonna fight Adesanya, then I’ll be a little free myself. I’ll definitely move up, not down. But if he’s (Jones) looking for opponents, that’s a fight, that’s a great fight.”

Interestingly enough, the thoughts expressed made it sound like Whittaker wouldn’t be opposed to a super fight with Jones one day. And in fact, he feels quite confident in himself if it were to happen.

“Yeah man, why not,” he replied when asked if he would fight Jones. “I think I could just give him a run for his money. I surprise a lot of people and I’m full of tricks, and I think the intensity I bring into a fight is something that a lot of people aren’t prepared for. But he’s a great fighter, he’s super, super dangerous. I’m under no illusion how hard it would be, and yeah, I think it would be fun.”

For the first ever Australian champion in Whittaker, his last two fights both came against perennial top contender, Yoel Romero whom he defeated by decision on both occasions. The latter most recently happening in June 2018.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/18/2019