Israel Adesanya: Jon Jones needs me in order to stay relevant

It’s UFC 247 fight week, and Jon Jones continues to be asked about Israel Adesanya.

Jones (25-1 MMA, 19-1 UFC), the UFC light heavyweight champion, puts his title on the line Saturday against undefeated Dominick Reyes.

It’s been a while since Jones, who’s cleared out the majority of the division, has had a fellow star as an opponent, prompting him to finally consider a move up to challenge UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic.

But there’s another big fight out there for Jones, and it happens to be the champion of the division below him, middleweight king Israel Adesanya.

Speaking to ESPN, Adesanya (18-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) said Jones keeps bringing up his name simply to remain in the headlines.

“I don’t need him. Actually, I’ll say he needs me if he wants to stay relevant,” Adesanya said. “Because he’s already done a lot in his legacy which is tainted by other things he’s done outside the ring but, for right now to stay relevant, to stay current, he needs me.

“He can keep trying, but he’s got someone else to worry about right now this weekend with Dominick Reyes, so he better focus on that rather than focusing on me.”

UFC president Dana White seems on board with a potential Jones vs. Adesanya fight down the line but thinks that Adesanya has to get through a few challengers first. Adesanya headlines UFC 248 next month against Yoel Romero, but Adesanya disagrees with White’s notion.

Adesanya is confident that, if he wanted to, he could just face Jones now, but that won’t be how he writes his story.

“I don’t think I have to,” Adesanya said. “I could have done my next fight (vs.) Jones if I wanted to, but this division has been held up for so long because the former champion (Robert Whittaker) was pulling out of fights, was sick, and was holding up the division. So for me, I have to do right like the greats. Like Anderson Silva who defended 12 times, the greats like him. I want to do right by the division and defend my belt, so I’m saying if you want to come down and see me, come see me, but let me get my job done first.

“I’ve got (Paulo) Costa, (Jared) Cannonier, Darren Till is a fresh new name. If Kelvin (Gastelum) can re-up and get back on the chopping block, he can get it, but there’s a few other guys that I want to get to – not have to, I want to get to. I want to defend my belt a few more times before I step up and fight someone like Jon Jones.”

Minus the one career blemish on Jones’ record via disqualification, he’s never lost. Jones is widely considered one of, if not, the greatest fighter of all time, and Adesanya hopes he’s the one that gets to shock the world.

“I kinda keep hoping he wins,” Adesanya said. “I keep hoping he keeps his streak up so when I do it, everyone will be like, ‘Wow, he really did that.’”