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Israel Adesanya's biggest rivalry in the UFC is against a man who isn't even in the same division - Jon Jones. The two have traded words on social media and in interviews but haven't crossed paths as yet.
It doesn't appear to be something that will happen in 2020 either. Adesanya wants to defend his Middleweight Championship three times in 2020 while Jon Jones will have his first title defense of the year a month before Adesanya.
UFC 247 will be headlined by Jones against Dominick Reyes - a fight that the Champion is expected to win comfortably. Since both men have prioritized defending the title and remaining the king of their division, Adesanya said that his goal is to fight Jon Jones only at 2021.
That seems like a fair timeline, given that he's able to get through Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa first. Speaking to Submission Radio (h/t TheBodyLockMMA.com), Dana White indicated that he's interested in the idea of Jones vs Adesanya, but revealed what the Middleweight Champion needs to do first:
“What I think needs to happen is, and Israel Adesanya is on track, if he beats Romero, Paulo Costa’s next. If he beats Costa, maybe there is one more guy there that would make sense. Gets that fight, beats him and then you start talking about Jon Jones if Israel really wants that fight,” White said
However, he gave his take, believing that Adesanya would be best suited to stay at Middleweight and build his legacy.
“But if you ask me, I think Israel should stay where he’s at. Keep picking these guys off for as long as he can and just build this phenomenal legacy,”
What Dana White says makes sense and Adesanya wouldn't argue with that either. He seems laser-focused and it would be very surprising if he managed to defend the Middleweight Championship thrice in a year.
It doesn't happen that often to begin with, as fighting in high-caliber five-round fights can take a toll on the body. Either way, we can only go so far with regards to the dream match. First, Jones must get through Dominick Reyes while Adesanya must get through Yoel Romero just a month later.
The two men will be headlining UFC 247 and UFC 248 respectively.
