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Video – Jon Jones, Israel Adesanya appear to squash beef in bizarre meeting: ‘It’s all love, baby’

In some rather surprising footage which has surfaced this morning, middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya and UFC heavyweight kingpin, Jon Jones appear to have put their long-standing differences behind them, meeting and sharing a cordial hug and laugh. Adesanya, a two-time and current undisputed middleweight champion under the banner of the UFC, managed to reclaim the […]

Adesanya, a two-time and current undisputed middleweight champion under the banner of the UFC, managed to reclaim the division title at UFC 287 back in April – taking home a spectacular second round KO win over arch-rival, Alex Pereira.

As for Jones, the Endicott native, who is also a former two-time undisputed light heavyweight titleholder, snapped a three-year-plus Octagon hiatus back in March at UFC 285 – taking a vacant heavyweight championship win against former interim gold holder, Ciryl Gane – submitting the Frenchman with a first round guillotine choke win.

However, continually linked with a future pairing, Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones have been on somewhat of a collision course, particularly prior to the latter’s rise to the heavyweight limit.

Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones meet in a rather bizarre confrontation

Attempting to squash any rivalry, Israel Adesanya claimed he was a “fan” of the two-weight gold holder, but insisted that neither of them particularly liked each other.

However, this Thursday morning, footage emerged of Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones embracing and hugging – with the former informing the heavyweight champion, “It’s all love, baby.”

My first Thread…
Life is one big cartoon!! #zoinks pic.twitter.com/VltLXbf6pX

— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) July 6, 2023

Yet to be booked for his second outing of the year, Adesanya is expected to appear at UFC 290 this weekend during International Fight Week – with the view of facing either former champion and two-time opponent, Robert Whittaker, or rival, Dricus du Plessis in a title fight before the end of the year, with the bout billed as an official title-eliminator.

As for Jones, the veteran has played up a potential impending retirement ahead of his expected Octagon return at UFC 295 in November at Madison Square Garden, in a potential title defense against Stipe Miocic or Sergei Pavlovich.

Sean Strickland tipped to land UFC title fight with Israel Adesanya: ‘The trash talk would be phenomenal’

Off the back of an impressive win over Abusupiyan Magomedov in the main event of UFC Vegas 76, Sean Strickland has been backed to pursue a middleweight title fight with champion, Israel Adesanya – with UFC Hall of Fame inductee, Michael Bisping describing potential pre-fight antics as “phenomenal”. Strickland, who retained his rank as the […]

Strickland, who retained his rank as the number seven contender at the middleweight limit upon the release of the latest rankings today, managed to turn in his second consecutive victory – scoring a first knockout win since 2020, stopping Magomedov with a slew of second round strikes for a TKO success.

Sean Strickland had previously called for a title fight with Israel Adesanya

And in the immediate aftermath of his win, Sean Strickland, who had secured another impressive unanimous decision win over Nassourdine Imavov in a light heavyweight headliner in January, called for a title fight with two-time and current titleholder, Adesanya – claiming he had duly paid his dues.

“F*ck, man, it just needs to happen, you guys,” Sean Strickland said. “We know Izzy (Israel Adesanya) is on f*cking repeat, dude. They [the UFC] try to bring Abus – this is what the UFC said, ‘Man, the middleweight division is stagnant. Let’s get Abus in here. He might beat Sean.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah right, motherf*cker. Wait until you see what happens.’ Every time they’ve tried to bring new blood – the Frenchie (Nassourdine Imavov) I fought before, I sent him home. This guy, I sent him back. Every time they try to bring new blood in, I send them back. Give me the f*cking title. I earned it.”

“The one before that, I fought the other guy they were trying to [push], their last phenom that they were trying to [push],” Sean Strickland explained. “I took that guy on three-day f*cking notice. I took him on in a five round war and won every f*cking round. I paid my dues. I’ve f*cking paid my fues. Give me that sh*t.”

And whilst Adesanya – who reclaimed gold back in April with a staggering KO win over Alex Pereira, has yet to be booked for his expected fourth quarter UFC return, the aforenoted, Bisping backed Strickland to pursue a title outing next.

“Sean Strickland got the job done, and I’m telling you – what a performance,” Michael Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “The man’s a character, he’s great on the microphone, he loves America, and people love him for that, as well. Of course, he’s a big patriot and rightly so. Sensational performance. He wants to fight. He calls him (Israel Adesanya) the Chinese champion. I don’t know why he does that – he wants to fight Israel Adesanya.”

“He feels that Israel Adesanya has fought everyone,” Bisping explained. “Of course, he’s fought Robert Whittaker twice, and the winner of Dricus (du Plessis) vs. Robert is going to get the next title fight. He said there’s no way that Dricus wins, and he also said people don’t want to see Whittaker fight him again. I’ll be honest, that one last night – I wouldn’t mind seeing it. And, of course, the trash talk in the lead-up to the fight would be phenomenal.”

Israel Adesanya open to trilogy fight with Alex Pereira on one condition: ‘If he wins the belt at 205, I’ll do it again’

For the time being, Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira appear to be done with one another. But ‘The Last Stylebender’ is more than willing to run it back with his Brazilian boogeyman should Pereira succeed in capturing the light heavyweight title. Pereira shocked the world at UFC 281 last year, scoring a stunning fifth-round knockout […]

Pereira shocked the world at UFC 281 last year, scoring a stunning fifth-round knockout against Israel Adesanya to capture the middleweight world championship. Five months later, ‘Poatan’ handed the title back to Adesanya, suffering a second-round KO in their UFC 287 rematch. While fans have expressed interest in seeing the two men complete their trilogy inside the Octagon, neither Pereira nor Adesanya is chomping at the bit to meet for an unprecedented fifth time in their respective careers.

However, there is one circumstance that would likely bring the two men back together for a third outing under the UFC banner.

“If he wins the belt at 205, I’ll do it again,” Adesanya told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “If not, I think he’s done with it, I’m done with it, everyone else wants to see it, but we’re moved on. It’s life.”

Alex Pereira is scheduled to make his light heavyweight debut later this month when the promotion returns to Salt Lake City for UFC 291. ‘Poatan’ will square off with former 205-pound titleholder Jan Blachowicz in the co-main event of the evening with the winner likely lining themselves up for a title opportunity.

Having shared the Octagon with Blachowicz in 2021, Israel Adesanya had some words of advice for his former GLORY Kickboxing foe.

“I think [Pereira] might knock him out. … We talked for about a good two minutes or so and I gave him some advice on how to handle Jan,” Adesanya said. “We had the same idea, like, he’s going to knock him out, but I warned him, ‘Look, just be careful because he knows your striking is really good so he’s going to be patient with you like he was with me.’ What we expected him to do, he didn’t do, because he’s a great striker. He had the same idea, but I feel like if Jan doesn’t take him out, [Pereira] is going to knock him out.”

Despite Being Down in the Series, Israel Adesanya is Perfectly Happy Taking His One Win Against Alex Pereira and Going Home

Despite being down 1-3 against Alex Pereira, ‘The Last Stylebender’ is more than happy to put the rivalry behind him after proving to himself that he could get the job done against the former two-division GLORY world champion.

“We’ve still got more to go, but definitely,” Adesanya said when asked if his UFC 287 win was one of the most gratifying moments of his career. “I’ve already said this, if we fight another 10 times and he beats me all 10 times, I don’t care. It’s not about that. I just have to prove to myself that I can beat this guy because every time I fought him—The first time I won that fight, the judges got it wrong.

“The second time, I was beating him and he got me. The third time, again, MSG, I was beating him, then he got me. I’m like, we know we can beat this guy, but he just has that spirit. He’s a great fighter. He’s a cool guy, I like his story, even in Brazil when he knocked me out, that’s a cool story for him. It’s a really cool story for him, but I just knew I could beat this guy.

“I just had to put it on myself. I put so much pressure on myself that last camp … I really had to go to some dark places and I did that for myself. I went in my hole and I just did my thing and I had to do that because I knew this was my shot. I put that pressure on myself because I was like, I’m never going to let my story be written like this, like ‘He’s the greatest ever, but he could never beat that guy.’ So I made sure I put it on myself to beat this guy and I did.”

Adesanya truly believes that his story with Alex Pereira has come to a close. But if ‘Poatan’ manages to capture the 205-pound crown, an opportunity too big to be ignored will likely bring them together inside the Octagon for one final clash.

“If I’m going to bet money on it, no,” Adesanya said. “205, I’ve been there, it’s hard. It’s not an easy task. If he wins the 205 belt though and they might give him a fast track like they did with me, then they’re going to have a magic, crazy, f*cking epic fight at 205 with me and him. And that will be us for the fifth time. Isn’t that wild?”

Sean Strickland demands title fight with Israel Adesanya after UFC Vegas 76 win: I’ve f*cking paid my dues’

Off the back of his impressive stoppage victory against Abusupiyan Magomedov in his UFC Vegas 76 headliner last night, perennial middleweight contender, Sean Strickland claims he has firmly paid his dues to the division – bellowing for a championship fight with Israel Adesanya. Strickland, who holds the number seven rank in the middleweight division, has […]

Strickland, who holds the number seven rank in the middleweight division, has now turned in his second consecutive victory of the year, following a prior unanimous decision win over the highly-touted, Nassourdine Imavov at the light heavyweight limit back in January.

However, last night, Strickland turned in his first stoppage win since a 2020 knockout of Brendan Allen, defeating German upstart, Magomedov with a slew of second round strikes in a huge rallying performance from the outspoken Californian.

Sean Strickland calls for title fight with Israel Adesanya next

And following his second successive victory, Strickland – who poked fun at current champion, Adesanya in his post-fight interview with former division champion, Michael Bisping, the former called for his premiere title challenge under the banner of the UFC.

“F*ck, man, it just needs to happen, you guys,” Sean Strickland told assembled media following UFC Vegas 76. “We know Izzy (Israel Adesanya) is on f*cking repeat, dude. They [the UFC] try to bring Abus – this is what the UFC said, ‘Man, the middleweight division is stagnant. Let’s get Abus in here. He might beat Sean.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah right, motherf*cker. Wait until you see what happens.’ Every time they’ve tried to bring new blood – the Frenchie (Nassourdine Imavov) I fought before, I sent him home. This guy, I sent him back. Every time they try to bring new blood in, I send them back. Give me the f*cking title. I earned it.”

Sean Strickland stokes rivalry with ‘F*cking loser’ Israel Adesanya, claims UFC want ‘Real African’ as champion

Ahead of his incoming Octagon return this weekend, Sean Strickland has hit out at middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya – describing the UFC kingpin as a “f*cking loser” and claiming the promotion would rather mint Dricus du Plessis as champion over Adesanya, describing the former as a “real African”. Strickland, the current number seven ranked middleweight […]

Strickland, the current number seven ranked middleweight contender, hopes to land his second consecutive victory this weekend in the main event of UFC Vegas 76, taking on Abusupiyan Magomedov over the course of five rounds in a headlining clash.

As for Adesanya, the middleweight champion and two-time divisional gold holder managed to reclaim divisional spoils at UFC 287 back in April of this year, defeating arch-rival, Alex Pereira with a stunning second round knockout in Miami, Florida.

Sean Strickland continues his brutal tirade against champion, Israel Adesanya

Claiming a victory this weekend over German-born contender, Magomedov should put him in line to fight Adesanya in the near future, the hugely-outspoken Strickland once more took fire the the Nigerian-Kiwi striking talent.

“Izzy (Israel Adesanya), the true Chinese – they [the UFC] probably want to bring a real African back to the championship,” Sean Strickland told assembled media ahead of UFC Vegas 76 earlier this weeke. “When he says, ‘Look at the color of my skin’ – did that really happen? This f*cking clown, this f*cking loser, they need to revoke your black card…”

“I don’t even look at you like a black man, you like the f*cking Chinese,” Sean Strickland continued. “I don’t know how he hangs out with black buddies and represents Africa. There’s a skit of him saying, ‘Look at my skin, look at my skin color, you might think I’m a black man from African, I’m wrong, I’m from China.’” (H/T MMA News)

Dricus du Plessis denies Israel Adesanya sparring story: ‘We did not do a single round of striking together’

Ahead of his pivotal championship-eliminator next month on the main card of UFC 290 next month, Dricus du Plessis has denied claims he was on the underhand of striking exchanges with current champion, Israel Adesanya – during a host of prior sparring sessions. du Plessis, the current number four ranked middleweight contender, is slated to […]

du Plessis, the current number four ranked middleweight contender, is slated to feature on the main card of UFC 290 next month during International Fight Week – taking on former titleholder and soon-to-be common-foe, Robert Whittaker in an official title eliminator clash.

In the midst of a five fight winning run since his UFC landing, in two recent victories, South African finisher, Dricus du Plessis submitted former welterweight title challenger, Darren Till, before defeating perennial contender, Derek Brunson at UFC 285 back in March.

And off the back of his stunning second round KO win over Brazilian rival, Alex Pereira in his championship reclamation win, Adesanya called for an immediate title defense with Pethora native, du Plessis.

Offering to fight the latter later this year in preference of a trilogy with Whittaker, Adesanya claimed the South African was dominated by him in prior sparring matches.

“So, you know what’s funny? What’s funny to me – I remember this, we actually sparred,” Israel Adesanya said. “We actually sparred. Hey, sparring is sparring. Alsjo you know what, I’m coming from China. I was doing kickboxing over there, I had no MMA, nothing. I was just kickboxing. I had MMA already, but it wasn’t sharp. It was blunt. My Jiu-Jitsu was blunt, very blunt.”

“So, we’re sparring – I don’t know if we did two rounds or one, it’s so long ago as well,” Israel Adesanya explained. “This is 2014, so, long ago. I remember like on the grappling he had me. But on striking, I just messed him up.”

Dricus du Plessis denies ever striking with Israel Adesanya while sparring

However, according to du Plessis, the contender claimed they never actually shared any standup rounds against each other in the past.

“Yeah, we trained in Thailand together,” Dricus du Plessis said during an interview with The Schmo. “He had quite a record in MMA already back then. I was 3-0, I think, when we trained together. He said I beat him in the grappling exchanges – he is one hundred percent correct in that. I did manhandle him in the grappling and wrestling exchanges.”

“But we did not do a single round of striking together, not one,” Dricus du Plessis explained. “That was his way of saving himself, saying, ‘No, but I beat him in the striking.’ We never did striking together. When we sparred, we grappled and we wrestled. We never did one single round of striking together, not as far as I know and that’s something you would remember.” (Transcribed by MMA News)