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Jon Jones isn’t too keen on fighting Israel Adesanya any time soon.
Over the last few months, there have been talks about a possible matchup between UFC champions Jon Jones and Israel Adesanya. “The Last Stylebender” even says he is willing to chase Jones should the latter decide to move up to heavyweight.
“Bones,” meanwhile, isn’t looking at this fight for his near future.
“Honestly, I have no interest in Israel, at the end of the day,” Jones said (via MMA Fighting). “Anderson Silva was a guy everyone wanted to see me fight and I never wanted to do it because I had so much respect for Anderson. I feel the same way with Izzy but it’s not coming from a place of respect.
“It’s like my career isn’t based around fighting him. Him to fight me, it would be huge for his resume. But for me, I feel like I already have so many legends under my resume but he’s not even a legend.”
Jones says he lost interest after seeing Adesanya’s knockout loss in kickboxing in 2017.
“We’ve all seen that video of him fighting some Alex [Pereira] guy and catching a clean overhand right,” he said. “So he’s very human to me. He’s not some special guy. I don’t see what everybody else is seeing in him.
“I think his whole anime thing and how he’s all [frantic] with his hands and all this crazy stuff. I think that’s kind of entertaining to a certain fanbase. But for me, it’s like dude, I would slap you. Get out of here kid.”
Jones’ top priority at the moment is his upcoming title defense against the undefeated Dominick Reyes. It takes place this Saturday at UFC 247 in Houston, Texas.