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“Jon beats him in so many places because of his skill and size.”
A fantasy UFC matchup between Jon Jones and Israel Adesanya is currently the talk of the town, but coach Mike Winkeljohn doesn’t believe Adesanya is big enough — or skilled enough — to pose any real threat to Jones.
Adesanya would like to fight Jones after he has cleared out the middleweight division but coach Wink says ‘Bones’ could have already moved up to heavyweight by then.
Speaking to BJPenn.com in a recent interview Winkeljohn, who trains Jones out of JacksonWink MMA Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico, says Adesanya will need to bulk up considerably before he even thinks about a superfight with MMA’s pound-for-pound No. 1.
“That would be up to Jon if he stays at light heavyweight. If Jon goes up to heavyweight by then, it is hard to bounce back down,” Winkeljohn said. “It is not that easy to change 15-pounds efficiently and still fight. We have to make a decision of going up and fighting for the belt or staying at 205 and cleaning out the division until Adesanya wants to come up.
“I think it might happen. That young man needs to get bigger and gain some weight because Jon just dwarfs him. Jon beats him in so many places because of his skill and size,” Winkeljohn said. “But, Israel is an incredible strike, there is no doubt about it, and has good wrestling defense. But, he needs to gain weight before he thinks about fighting Jon. Like everybody, he is looking to challenge the top dog to get his name out there and the top dog is Jon. If it happens, it is down the road.”
Jones will return to the Octagon next year to defend his light heavyweight title against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247. The PPV is scheduled to take place on February 8 at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Adesanya, who recently disposed of Robert Whittaker via second-round KO to capture the official UFC middleweight title, is teased to make his first title defense against Yoel Romero sometime early next year.