Israel Adesanya’s plan is to clean out middleweight then fight Jon Jones in 2021

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya says his plan is to clean out the middleweight division then fight UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones in 2021.

Speaking to Damon Martin of MMAFighting.com, Adesanya laid out his plans for the next two years of his fighting career. Though Adesanya and Jones have been talking smack to each other all over social media ever since Adesanya defeated Robert Whittaker to win the middleweight strap at UFC 243, Adesanya does not want to deviate from his plan.

“The Last Stylebender” says if Jones wants to fight him now, then Jones has to move to 185lbs. Otherwise, “Bones” will have to wait for Adesanya to do this thing.

“I just got my middleweight title in April, and I defended it for the first time in October. I want to defend my belt against all the middleweights that are the biggest threats supposedly before I jump up in weight. If Jon wants to fight me now, he’s got to come down to middleweight,” Adesanya said.

“I’ve got a plan. I never, ever deviate from my plans. He’s not going to make me move from what I have in my head first. I’ve got all these killers at middleweight to whoop first before I get to him, and then I’ll whoop Jon Jones’ ass.”

UFC president Dana White has admitted a potential fight between Adesanya and Jones is a matchup he’s intrigued by. But with Adesanya having several contenders at 185lbs still to fight, including Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa, Jared Cannonier, and Darren Till, it doesn’t make much sense at this moment for him to move up in weight. Jones, meanwhile, still has contenders such as Dominick Reyes, Jan Blachowicz and Corey Anderson left to fight at 205lbs.

Adesanya will be waiting for Jones whenever the time is right for them to fight. That is, as long as Jones stays out of trouble.

“It all depends on what his career is like, if he sticks around. If he does something stupid and gets sent to jail or gets popped for some more picograms, all that sh*t. It’s up to him if he sticks around. I gave him a date, 2021. By then I will have cleaned out the middleweight division. I just want to clean it out,” Adesanya said.

What do you think of Israel Adesanya’s plan to clean out the UFC middleweight division and then fight Jon Jones in 2021?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/5/2019.