Israel Adesanya’s coach says he will do what Jon Jones hasn’t done and fight Stipe Miocic

By Adam Martin - October 11, 2019

Israel Adesanya’s coach Eugene Bareman said “The Last Stylebender” will do what Jon Jones hasn’t done and that’s move to heavyweight to fight Stipe Miocic.

Israel Adesanya, Robert Whittaker

Speaking to Submission Radio, Bareman criticized Jones for his reluctance to move up to the UFC heavyweight division despite fans and media calling him to move up in weight for years now. He said Adesanya would be willing to move up two weight divisions and take on Miocic if Jones doesn’t want to do so.

“Jon Jones so far has not been willing to go to heavyweight,” Bareman said (h/t MMAjunkie.com). “He’s been reluctant to go to heavyweight. Am I correct? Well, Israel wouldn’t be reluctant to go to heavyweight. Israel would go to heavyweight and he would fight Stipe Miocic. There you go. We’ll take that fight, Jon Jones. If you don’t want to take it, you can hang around at light heavyweight. We’ll skip light heavyweight and we’ll take that fight off you. There’s some more bait there, so Jon Jones can bite on it and start doing what he does, like what these guys do. But we’ll take the fight. Don’t worry about it, Jon Jones.”

Bareman said that he doesn’t want to give Jones any more attention. Instead of a superfight with Jones, Bareman said he wants Adesanya to make history and become the first champion to move up two weight classes to fight for a title instead.

“Let’s talk about Stipe. If we have to talk about this superfight, let’s talk about Stipe. Let’s talk about Israel going up. Has anybody gone up and won two titles, but skipped a division? Well, there you go. There’s a bit of history,” Bareman said.

Don’t expect the rivalry between Adesanya and Jones to end anytime soon. If anything, these comments should put more fuel on the fire for a future superfight between the two.

Are you interested in a potential heavyweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Stipe Miocic?


Topics:

Israel Adesanya Jon Jones UFC