Israel Adesanya needs to put in some work if he wants to edge ahead of Jan Blachowicz in the Jon Jones sweepstakes, says Mike Winkeljohn.
Jan Blachowicz not only defended his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight title against Israel Adesanya, but he also usurped a potential fight against Jon Jones.
Adesanya and Jones have traded no shortage of heated barbs on social media and in the news. Had “The Last Stylebender” beat Blachowicz for the UFC Light Heavyweight title at UFC 259, the MMA landscape appeared primed for an Adesanya vs. Jones super-fight. Unfortunately for those parties, Blachowicz had other plans.
Mike Winkeljohn, Jones’ coach, recently joined Submission Radio and weighed the possibilities of a Jones fight vs. either Adesanya or Blachowicz.
“Jan, that would be the scarier fight, honestly, with the strength that he has,” the coach told Submission Radio. “But, yeah, I think so, a little bit. I think it’s all about the hype, and it’s a show, and hyping it up and stuff. And Israel was able to do that. And the coming together of two big names, which sometimes doesn’t have anything to do with the skill level, is kind of exciting.
“At this point, it would be Jan,” Winkeljohn continued. “There’s no doubt about that. If Jon was motivated to go to 205, he wouldn’t want to fight Israel because Israel’s not the guy anymore. And Jon wants the challenge and also understands the real world. And that doesn’t make sense to me either. You can talk all you want, but that doesn’t mean you’re the best. It’s nice when you’re the best and you talk, maybe a little bit just to sell the match. But Jan would definitely be the one I would think. I’m not sure that jazzes Jon at the moment. Like I said, when Jon feels challenged and he wants to push, that’s when it gets really exciting for us to be around him and be at the gym.”
UFC President Dana White said at the UFC 265 post-fight press conference (watch highlights) that he is not expecting Jones to return to active competition until 2022, likely in a heavyweight fight.
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