Jon Jones mocks Israel Adesanya after defeat to Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259

When Jan Blachowicz became the new UFC light heavyweight champion by defeating Dominick Reyes at the co-main event of UFC 253, almost every major fighter in the division challenged him, partly because he wasn’t Jon Jones, who vacated the title after ruling the division for years. Even Jones was thinking of making a return and take back his belt, despite joining the heavyweight division in August 2020. And because of Jones, his arch-rival and reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya made a jump to the light heavyweight division, challenging Blachowicz for the 205lb title in January 2021.

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UFC 259 results: Israel Adesanya underestimated Jan Blachowicz?

Israel Adesanya’s real goal was to fight Jones in the heavyweight division after Blachowicz, but the Stylebender fell short because he treated the Polish star as a stepping stone to the Jones fight, according to many. In the main event of UFC 259, Blachowicz outlasted Adesanya inside the APEX in Las Vegas to win via unanimous decision, 49-46, 49-45, 49-45. While it was a close fight, Blachowicz earned some major points due to his takedowns and wrestling.

“Yeah, it didn’t exactly go the way I wanted it to go, but dare to be great. You know the critics, the ones on the sidelines, but I’m the one putting in on the line,” Adesanya told Joe Rogan at the post-fight interview.

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UFC 259 results: Jon Jones slams Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya, who faced his first MMA loss (20-1) at UFC 259, opened himself up to criticism at the post-fight conference, telling haters to “get f*** off the hype train”. Adesanya said that “a little smack” is always necessary, adding that he’ll be back better than ever. While Adesanya said that he still wishes to face Jon Jones in the near future, Bonny took to Twitter and claimed that the Last Stylebender is “not even worth my time”.

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Jones and Adesanya have been trading words on social media for the last two years and many fans were expecting the two to clash in the future. However, with Adesanya losing in the light heavyweight division and Jon Jones training for his heavyweight debut, that is far from becoming reality. Adesanya remains the middleweight champion and will make his return to the 185lb division later this year. As for Jones, he is expected to face the winner of Stipe Miocic vs Francis Ngannou, who collide at UFC 260.

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Image Source: UFC, Jon Jones/ Instagram