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Despite suffering his first-ever loss in MMA at UFC 259, Israel Adesanya believes that a fight against Jon Jones is still on the cards. The Last Stylebender has refused to acknowledge that a potential fight against Jones is "dead" despite losing to Jan Blachowicz.
During his interview with ESPN's Ariel Helwani, Israel Adesanya said that his loss to Blachowicz was a little valley in his story. The reigning UFC middleweight champion is confident that he will once again rise after suffering his first major setback in the UFC.
Adesanya added that he knows exactly what he has to do to get back to his true self. The Last Stylebender stated that he remains confident that a fight against Jones will happen in the future.
"No, hell no. Like I'm not done, this is just a little valley in my story. I mean, in any movie, in any like, you know, anime series you always have valleys and then you rise up from that. This is just mine and that's alright, cool. I'm taking this very well and I know what exactly I have to do to get back to my true self. So, yeah, I'm doing just that but that fight's not dead."
For months, Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones have gone back-and-forth and traded shots on social media. The two men have teased a super fight against each other on several occasions; however, with Jones moving up to heavyweight, a fight against Adesanya will have to wait a while.
The Last Stylebender will be returning to middleweight for now after a defeat in his light heavyweight debut. But Adesanya hasn't ruled out a move back to the 205-lbs division. Hence, a fight against Jon Jones could certainly be on the cards.
What's next for Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones?
Israel Adesanya has expressed interest in facing Darren Till and defending his middleweight title against The Gorilla next. While there are other top contenders in Kevin Holland, Marvin Vettori, and Robert Whittaker, the current champion is determined to face Till.
Meanwhile, Jones is likely to face the winner of the UFC heavyweight title fight between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou.
