Israel Adesanya’s coach Eugene Bareman says all their focus is on Jan Blachowicz, not Jon Jones or Robert Whittaker.
Israel Adesanya’s name is on a lot of fighters’ radar right now, but his coach Eugene Bareman has said all their focus is on a fight with Jan Blachowicz.
Adesanya (20-0) is set to move up to light heavyweight for his next fight and challenge the division’s champion Blachowicz. “The Last Stylebender” also has an ongoing feud with former champion Jon Jones, and he is catching the eye of Robert Whittaker who is eager to avenge his loss to Adesanya.
“The crosshairs are on Jan,” Bareman told Submission Radio. “Robert Whittaker may as well be outside of the scope. He’s not even anywhere near the crosshairs. So, like, yeah, we’re not even mentioning that name. All our focus is on the Blachowicz fight. At the moment, the battle that’s going on is not between the two fighters, it’s between the management teams of both fighters and the UFC. But that’s the battle going on now.”
Adesanya and Jones have been going back and forth ever since the middleweight champion outlined his plans to move up to 205-pounds. Recently, Adesanya said he is doing what Jones hasn’t done in 10 years by moving up a weight class. Bareman feels that his fighter has Jones’ on strings.
“The only person that’s ever shown that pension for moving around weight divisions has been Israel,” Bareman said. “And then, of course, Jon Jones, being who he is, has followed in Israel’s footsteps. Which is funny, because he’s meant to be the guy that’s already established himself there, but Israel’s got that guy dancing to the beat of whatever Israel rhythm he puts out.”