Jon Jones has a test ahead of him in the form of rising light-heavyweight, Dominick Reyes. But, if a much discussed, super fight between the UFC’s 205 king and middleweight champ Israel Adesanya happens down the line, his coach believes Jones will have “The Last Stylebender” outgunned.
Jones’ striking coach weighs-in on a fight with Adesanya
For several months now, there’s been buzz about a fight between Jones and Adesanya going down at some juncture. The stars starting trading verbal shots earlier this year, after Adesanya relayed he planned to go “hunting” after Jones. The latter didn’t care for the comments, and a beef between the two has been growing ever since.
Well, fast forward to today, and Jones is booked to fight Reyes at UFC 247, February 8th. But, that hasn’t stopped all the talk about a scrap between Jones and Adesanya happening at some point.
Recently Jones’ striking coach, Mike Winkeljohn spoke with BJ Penn.com. While discussing the possibility of a Jones – Adesanya fight happening, the Jackson-Wink coach said this:
“That would be up to Jon if he stays at light heavyweight. If Jon goes up to heavyweight by then, it is hard to bounce back down,” Winkeljohn said. “It is not that easy to change 15-pounds efficiently and still fight. We have to make a decision of going up and fighting for the belt or staying at 205 and cleaning out the division until Adesanya wants to come up.”
“I think it might happen. That young man needs to get bigger and gain some weight because Jon just dwarfs him. Jon beats him in so many places because of his skill and size,” Winkeljohn said. “But, Israel is an incredible strike, there is no doubt about it, and has good wrestling defense. But, he needs to gain weight before he thinks about fighting Jon. Like everybody, he is looking to challenge the top dog to get his name out there and the top dog is Jon. If it happens, it is down the road.”
Winkeljohn isn’t the only person to voice opinions like this. Adesanya is considerably smaller than Jones, and questions remain as to whether he would be able to counter Jones’ wrestling and takedowns. Yes, even if he took out Derek Brunson, who is also an accomplished wrestler.
All that said, this is one of the reasons Adesanya is becoming one of the biggest stars in combat sports: his desire to prove his doubters and or haters wrong. Case in point, Adesanya pushed for a bout with Yoel Romero , who is a ridiculously, powerful and decorated wrestler. But since the contender is coming off losses to Paulo Costa and Robert Whittaker, Dana White has said the UFC has other plans for Romero.
More About:MMA MMA Frenzy Sports