UFC Rumors: Why Jon Jones Vs. Israel Adesanya Won’t Be As Exciting As Fans Hope It Would Be

Last Saturday’s UFC 259 event saw two of the promotion’s champions go head-to-head in the main event.

In one corner was reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz, a Polish power-puncher who went from nearly getting cut from the company to becoming the 205-pound titleholder.

This was his first title defense after capturing gold in 2020.

In the other corner was New Zealand’s Israel Adesanya, the reigning UFC middleweight titleholder and one of the company’s biggest stars.

Adesanya has been dominant in his reign at 185 pounds but decided to test himself even more by going up one weight class higher and challenging for the belt.

While the fight was rather close in the opening rounds, the Polish champion made good use of his size advantage by taking the Kiwi challenger down and keeping him there for a good portion of the championship rounds.

In the end, Blachowicz took a unanimous decision win, handing Adesanya his first career loss in mixed martial arts.

With the win, not only did Blachowicz deny Adesanya of the distinction of being just the fifth fighter in UFC history to hold two world titles simultaneously, but it also potentially halted the momentum of a potential super-fight between the rising middleweight star and former UFC light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones.

Adesanya and Jones have been going back and forth at each other on social media for quite a while now, and the former’s move up to 205 pounds sparked discussion of a potential matchup between the two.

After Blachowicz’s convincing win over Adesanya, it became quite clear to many that Jones would be an even tougher matchup for the top dog of the middleweight division.

Blachowicz provided a clear blueprint on how to deconstruct the Adesanya puzzle, and that’s to take his shots and then outmuscle him with grappling. Jones can do all of that and more.

Throughout his two combined reigns as the UFC light heavyweight champion, Jones tore through the bracket’s best. He took the title from Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and then defended it against a murderer’s row of former champions and top contenders in Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Glover Teixeira, Alexander Gustafsson (twice), Daniel Cormier (twice, technically), Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes.

If there was anything that those title defenses proved, it’s that Jones can definitely take a punch from the division’s hardest hitters, and he can out-grapple the best wrestlers at 205 pounds as well.

As talented and as skillful Adesanya is, Jones is still at a different level, especially in terms of in-Octagon intelligence. It's also worth noting the significant difference in size as the caliber of the long-limbed American can quite possibly break “The Last Style Bender” in ways that fans have never seen before.

Simply put, Jones would likely be able to outmuscle Adesanya on the mat and possibly even finish him with strikes or with a submission.

Not a knock on Adesanya’s abilities, but more of a testament to what Jones has proven he can do inside the cage.

This is not to say that Adesanya won’t have an opportunity at becoming a potential threat in the 205-pound division in the future. "Izzy" could easily put on size and develop the strength necessary to hang with the big boys at light heavyweight.

As for a potential showdown with Jones, it’s highly likely that this won't materialize soon. The Jackson-Wink MMA representative is currently pursuing a run in the heavyweight division and is expected to face the winner of the Stipe Miocic-Francis Ngannou rematch for the UFC heavyweight championship.