Dana White intrigued by potential Jon Jones vs. Israel Adesanya matchup

Add UFC president Dana White to the list of people who are intrigued by a future dream matchup between light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and interim middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

Since April, a back-and-forth — through the media and online — between Jones and Adesanya has been ongoing. With all of the words spouted off by both champions, White was asked by TMZ Sports if he would be interested in the potential showdown. Of course, that’s if “The Last Stylebender” can get through his next test in October.

“I do (have interest in that fight),” White said. “But Israel needs to focus on (Robert Whittaker). He’s fighting a bad dude. He needs to worry about that fight.

“If he beats Robert Whittaker, he’s a very, very dangerous guy and a guy Jones needs to take serious.”

Whittaker and Adesanya will headline UFC 243 Oct. 6, although the venue has not been locked down as of yet. The fight will either take place in Australia, which makes the most sense since both are from that part of the world, or the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

After a 5-0 start to his UFC career, Adesanya took on Kelvin Gastelum for the interim middleweight title in the co-main event of April’s UFC 236 event. In a definite “Fight of the Year” contender, Adesanya would come away victorious via unanimous decision to capture his first world title in the UFC.

Jones competed earlier this month when he defended the light heavyweight title against Thiago Santos in the main event of UFC 239. Although Jones showed an incredible chin in that fight, many feel that Jones’ performance was a step down from what we’ve seen from him over the years. Jones fought a calculated, strategic fight en route to a close, split decision victory to retain his title.

Should Israel Adesanya defeat Robert Whittaker, would you be in favor of seeing him fight Jon Jones at some point in 2020?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 7/19/2019.