Mike Winkeljohn believes Jon Jones vs. Israel Adesanya will happen but it won’t be a close fight

Jon Jones and Israel Adesanya have been going back-and-forth at one another on social media and a fight between the two seems likely.

Yet, “The Last Stylebender” has said it won’t happen until 2021 once he clears out the middleweight division.

Jones’ coach in Mike Winkeljohn isn’t sure if that timeline is realistic as he says “Bones” may at heavyweight by then.

“That would be up to Jon if he stays at light heavyweight. If Jon goes up to heavyweight by then, it is hard to bounce back down,” Winkeljohn said to BJPENN.com. “It is not that easy to change 15-pounds efficiently and still fight. We have to make a decision of going up and fighting for the belt or staying at 205 and cleaning out the division until Adesanya wants to come up.”

If Jones does stay at light heavyweight and Adesanya clears out his division until then, Winkeljohn believes the fight will happen. It will also be a massive fight for both of them, yet Winkeljohn doubts it will be competitive at all due to the size difference.

“I think it might happen. That young man needs to get bigger and gain some weight because Jon just dwarfs him. Jon beats him in so many places because of his skill and size,” Winkeljohn said. “But, Israel is an incredible strike, there is no doubt about it, and has good wrestling defense. But, he needs to gain weight before he thinks about fighting Jon. Like everybody, he is looking to challenge the top dog to get his name out there and the top dog is Jon. If it happens, it is down the road.”

In order for this fight to happen, both Jon Jones and Israel Adesanya need to remain the champion in their respective divisions.

Do you think we will ever see Jon Jones vs. Israel Adesanya? If so, who do you think will win?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 11/27/2019.