Jon Jones mocks Israel Adesanya for talk of shifting UFC superfight timeline to December

Jon Jones apparently is amused by Israel Adesanya’s change of course when it comes to a potential highly anticipated grudge match.

Adesanya (20-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) had said for more than a year that his ultimate plan is to meet up with Jones (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) inside the octagon in July, ideally at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in front of a potentially record-setting crowd for “the biggest fight in UFC history.” That was said, however, well before the COVID-19 pandemic took over the world.

In the lead-up to Saturday’s UFC 259 event, where middleweight champ Adesanya will move up to light heavyweight to challenge Jan Blachowicz for a second belt, “The Last Stylebender” has said that a clash with Jones in December now feels more likely, mainly because he thinks it’s a must for a crowd to be in attendance.

“Unfortunately, it might not be summer or July, but there’s still December,” Adesanya told ESPN. “It could happen then. All I know is that this ight (against Jon Jones) needs a crowd. I can’t do that in an empty arena.”

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Jones, who in July vacated the title Adesanya will challenge Blachowicz for in their headlining bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, is currently on track for a debut in the heavyweight division this year. All signs point to him challenging the winner of the March 27 title fight between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou.

“Bones” has said multiple times that he’s not so concerned about the Adesanya fight and certainly isn’t chasing it. But that doesn’t mean he still doesn’t like to poke fun at his rival, which is exactly what happened when he caught wind of Adesanya’s comments about their fight (via Twitter):

If the stars align perfectly and both Jones and Adesanya win their upcoming fights, a December bout could actually prove to be realistic. For now, though, it appears they’ll continue to take shots at each other from a distance.