Israel Adesanya isn’t sold on Jon Jones’ recent MMA retirement.
Jones’ legendary career came to an unceremonious end at a post-fight press conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, last Saturday night. The surprise announcement from UFC CEO Dana White ended a lengthy saga that left the MMA world waiting for a potential fight between now-former heavyweight champion Jones and UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.
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Although Jones has since confirmed the announcement on social media, Adesanya isn’t expecting it to last.
“I think he’ll come back,” Adesanya said on Thursday’s special edition of “The Ariel Helwani Show” from Las Vegas. “What do they call it now? The kids call it rage-baiting. It’s working. I don’t agree with the fact of holding up the division. Tom defended the belt, that’s a defense on his book. Let the division keep moving, and now it moves forward. Now this whole thing comes out because [criminal charges stemming from an incident] in February or whatever. F***ing that’s why he retired. I think he’ll go through this and then, again, he’ll come back.
“I think he’ll fight Tom. It’s too much money. They offered him what, $20-$30 million? Yeah, I think he’ll come back. It’ll even be bigger by the time he comes back because Tom would have had like two fights or three fights and then built up his own legacy as well.”
Since England’s Aspinall emerged as the interim titlist in November 2023, Jones has made it clear that he has little to no interest in that matchup. “Bones” instead went on to defend his title against the former two-time champion Stipe Miocic, whom he was initially booked against before an injury delayed the bout.
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Over time, a hypothetical Jones vs. Aspinall fight gained significant hype, to the point where White claimed it would be the biggest heavyweight fight in the company’s history. Having been virtually unstoppable throughout his last 12 fights, Aspinall has primarily been viewed as someone with the potential to defeat Jones. Adesanya said he tends to agree with that assessment.
“I think Tom is definitely the guy [who can beat Jones],” Adesanya said. “I’ve sat next to Tom and his father, and people say this about me on TV, ‘Oh, you’re so much bigger in person.’ Tom is a huge dude, and the speed. It’s the speed for me. For a heavyweight, I don’t understand. I asked him about it, and he’s like, ‘I think fast.’ I understand what he means neurologically. I do that as well. When you’re working, no matter how tired you are, you’re still trying to give 100% in that moment on the airdyne [bike] or whatever, just so your neurons are firing or wiring with that thing in mind.”
Moving forward, Aspinall awaits his first title defense as the official undisputed heavyweight champion. But recently, rumors have surfaced about another former UFC champion being open to a return.
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A fight between Jones and former champion Francis Ngannou appeared to be the biggest fight imaginable for Jones before Aspinall rose to prominence. However, Ngannou’s relationship with the UFC dissolved through negotiations, and led to him leaving the promotion to pursue boxing while also signing an MMA deal with the PFL.
“The Predator” was recently seen at UFC Atlanta alongside friend and former champion Kamaru Usman. Lacking notable contenders at heavyweight, Adesanya pointed out, an Ngannou return is exactly what the UFC should pursue.
“I texted him right after [UFC Atlanta] and said, ‘I love seeing you there,'” Adesanya said of Ngannou. “It made me feel like, ‘This is where my boy belongs, man.’ The best in the world. If you put him back in the mix. Him vs. Tom, crazy. That’s the biggest fight. Dana said women will never fight in the UFC. Things happen. I’ve seen a lot of things happen in this game.”
Unfortunately, White has been unenthusiastic about welcoming Ngannou back.
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As for the former two-time middleweight champion Adesanya, “The Last Stylebender” has fought once this year, losing via second-round TKO to Nassourdine Imavov in the main event of UFC Saudi Arabia in February. Whoever Adesanya fights next, he’ll be trying to snap a three-fight skid against. Ideally, he’d like to return in September or October, he said.
In terms of opponents, Adesanya is most interested in getting redemption against the man who started his current slide, Sean Strickland.
“The division’s kind of stagnant,” Adesanya said. “That [Sean Strickland] rematch is the only one I want, but then he hasn’t responded. Probably because he got fat. People sent me a video of that as well. I was like, ‘Oh, s***.’ So, maybe he’s going through something.
“No question [he’d be ideal]. Look, he lost his last fight. I lost my last fight. All right, cool. Want a rematch? If he doesn’t want to, that’s fine. It’s easy money, bro. You beat me already. Handedly. Five-nil. Come on, that’s easy money.
“I just feel like I could do better. If he beats me on my best, I could be like, ‘F*** yeah. Good game.’ And I’ll leave it at that. But I know I can do better. Everything happens the way it’s supposed to happen. I don’t regret it.”
