Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones have yet to meet in the Octagon, but their rivalry seems to be growing with each passing day.
The middleweight champion, who plans on moving up to light heavyweight, believes that Jones may be washed up.
“I’m about to do what he hasn’t done in over 10 years, which is jump up in weight,” Adesanya told ESPN (via Alexander K. Lee of MMA Fighting). “I didn’t go recycle all my old opponents and scrap them or find new lower-tier guys to fight. I just said, f*ck it, I’m a go up. So I’m gonna do what he hasn’t done in over 10 years, I’m gonna do it in just under three years. … I don’t know, it depends who his next fight is, but I’ve seen the guy live. You can look at his last five fights. Tell me he’s not washed.”
Adesanya is moving up to the weight class Jones once ruled, while Jones is moving up to heavyweight in the future. While some may believe their rivalry started from out of nowhere, according to Adesanya, everything began between the two at UFC 236.
“Jon Jones, watch any fight that Jon Jones has ever had in the last year and a half,” Adesanya said. “I don’t say sh*t unless I’m asked about it. But anytime I fight he’s always saying something stupid trying to prod. It happened from the Atlanta fight, 236, since then any fight I’ve had he’s always had something to say to try and like, I don’t know if he’s stealing the spotlight, but cancel some of my shine if you will. I can’t fathom why he’s jealous of me, because he shouldn’t be jealous of me, but he is. I can tell you this because it’s easy to recognize when you’ve been there, when you’ve been that green-eyed monster, it’s easy to recognize when you see it in other people. I see it and he’s jealous of me because I’m doing exactly what he wished he could have done. … He is definitely a ‘clout trout.’ He’s a clout trout. Hundred percent. King fish clout trout, bar none, 400-pound clout trout.”
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