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Israel Adesanya has ambitions that surpass the UFC Middleweight division. Nine fights into his UFC career, he's won every one inside the Octagon. He also has the undisputed Middleweight Championship, that he has already defended twice.
Speaking to Helen Yee (H/T BJPENN.com), Daniel Cormier said that he couldn't guarantee Israel Adesanya would beat Jon Jones. However, he believes he would certainly cause a lot of problems for the top-ranked pound-for-pound fighter.
“Adesanya, if he’s able to keep this fight standing, which he has proven time and time again that he’s able to do, is a problem for not only Jon Jones, but all the way up to heavyweight with Stipe Miocic.”
Daniel Cormier believes that Israel Adesanya would even be a problem for Stipe Miocic, and named Francis Ngannou as the only man that he possibly wouldn't be able to beat.
“If [Miocic] has to stand with him, from heavyweight down to 185 [pounds], it’s a problem, because he’s that good in that one particular skill: the striking. He’s that good in striking [in kickboxing], and now he’s doing it in four-ounce [MMA] gloves. He’s a dangerous guy. He’s a dangerous guy for everybody—maybe not Francis. Maybe not Francis, because Francis is knocking people’s heads off. Maybe not Francis, but all the rest of the heavyweights got their hands full with Adesanya.”
How realistic is the idea of Israel Adesanya at Heavyweight?
The idea of Israel Adesanya in UFC's largest division seems to be a bad idea, but could narrowly make the lowest Heavyweight limit without any weight-cutting required.
Israel Adesanya will be sticking to his guns at Middleweight before moving up, even though a Jon Jones fight at Light Heavyweight appears to be the fight to make for UFC.
