Israel Adesanya defeated Kelvin Gastelum by unanimous decision in the co-main event of UFC 236 to become the UFC Interim Middleweight Champion.
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones saw the fight and was unimpressed by what he saw on Saturday Night, saying so in a now deleted tweet, saying:
“Well said, my man had a toe to toe kick boxing match with a short stubby wrestler. There’s only one Jon Jones ladies and gentlemen.”
The interim middleweight champion will face UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker next, but UFC President Dana White is open to a super fight between Adesanya and Jones.
“(Adesanya has) got Whittaker to look forward to now,” White said after the event (via Steven Marrocco & John Morgan of MMA Junkie). “Whittaker is a bad dude. He’s bigger than Kelvin, he hits harder than Kelvin, and he needs to focus on him right now. I know him and Jon Jones have been talking some smack, and listen, if he wins, and he becomes the middleweight champion, obviously I’d love to see him and Jon Jones fight. But we’ll see how everything plays out and timing. Because the other thing is if Israel fights Whittaker and wins, there’s other guys that have been waiting in line, too, to fight for the title. If (Ronald) ‘Jacare’ (Souza) keeps winning and doesn’t get a title fight, that guy might kill me. But that Jon Jones fight is going to be out there for Israel no matter what. That ain’t going anywhere.”
Jones has a fight coming up with Thiago Santos at UFC 239 and with Adesanya’s next bout not scheduled at this time, it could be awhile before the potential super fight comes together.
