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Israel Adesanya has seemingly fired back at Jon Jones for recently criticizing his grappling skills.
Jones, a former two-time UFC light heavyweight champ, claimed he would ground and pound Adesanya to death when asked online by a fan about a fight between the pair. Jones' reasoning is due to 'Izzy's' low level of grappling when asked online by a fan as to what would happen in a bout between the two fighters.
The Nigerian-born New Zealand star has now posted a few images with a caption criticizing the people mocking his grappling and ground game. He used a lot of terms from the Japanese manga and anime series Naruto in the process.
In the first of the three pictures, Israel Adesanya was seen training with a teammate. The second featured him grappling with opponents inside the octagon, while the third was a photoshopped video of Naruto character Rock Lee.
"“hE DoEsNt hAvE aNy GrRapPliN!” - [confused emoji]. Crazy how I became world champion in 14 months only using Taijutsu …wrong!! My Ninjutsu game is hidden like the leaf village. Commot your ego and shine your eyes, maybe you might see what’s really going on. Or you’re all just in my Genjutso. #naruto #rocklee #youngenergy #thepowerofyouth #drunkenfist," captioned Adesanya.
See Israel Adesanya's response to his harshest critics on Instagram below:
Adesanya's use of the word "commot" is Nigerian slang, meaning leave.
Meanwhile, Jon Jones dropped his 205-pound weight class belt last year after making a successful defense versus Dominick Reyes in February. He will officially move to the UFC heavyweight division in 2022.
Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker 2 is reportedly set for UFC 271 in February next year
Israel Adesanya won the middleweight championship from Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 in October 2019. He has since made three successful title defenses against Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori.
Adesanya, who has never won by submission in his 22-fight professional MMA career, also fought then light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 earlier this year. He suffered his first ever loss to Blachowicz.
'The Last Stylebender' is now rumored to take on Whittaker in a rematch at UFC 271 on February 12th, 2022. The event will most likely be held at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
