Israel Adesanya praises Jon Jones after ‘Bones’ names him his favorite UFC fighter: “We can be in our own lanes and be great”

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is seemingly thankful to end his rivalry with Jon Jones.

‘The Last Stylebender’ and ‘Bones’ have been at odds for years, especially since Adesanya’s rise to championship status in 2019. For a few years, there was brief talk of a potential fight between the two. However, that talk ended when Jones announced his plans to move up to heavyweight.

In his heavyweight debut at UFC 285 against Ciryl Gane, he won by first-round submission. That victory gained Jones the heavyweight championship and a potential future clash against Stipe Miocic. However, lost in the madness, was that ‘Bones’ seemingly ended his rivalry with Adesanya. In March, Jones admitted that the New Zealander was his favorite current MMA fighter.

In the eyes of Israel Adesanya, that was a massive sign of growth. The UFC middleweight champion discussed Jon Jones in a recent appearance on the Impaulsive podcast. There, Adesanya admitted that he’s long been a fan of the heavyweight champion and that they can both do incredible things in different divisions.

RELATED: UFC PARTS WAYS WITH EIGHT MORE FIGHTERS IN LATEST ROSTER PURGE

Image via: FREESTYLEBENDER on YouTube

“I don’t even like to talk about this s*it. But like for me, growth is something you have to go through as a human being,” Israel Adesanya stated on the podcast regarding Jon Jones’ comments. “As a man, especially, maturity. There was a point where we were, I came to the UFC. I feel like it’s up to him to admit this, but I feel like he was a fan, but he was kind of like ‘Ugh, there’s another one coming in and taking the shine’. But there’s enough room for us to shine.”

He continued, “…We can be in our own lanes and be great. I’ve been a fan of Jon since UFC 94 when he fought Stephan Bonnar. I saw what he did in that fight… But yeah. Real recognize real, I’ll put it that way.”

What do you make of these comments from Israel Adesanya? How do you think a fight against Jon Jones would’ve gone?