For Israel Adesanya, moving up and challenging for the UFC light heavyweight championship is his way of sticking it to Jon Jones.
Adesanya, the reigning UFC middleweight titleholder, will take on Jan Blachowicz for his next bout at 205 pounds for that championship.
Recently, Adesanya joined “Submission Radio” to discuss the decision and more.
On Uriah Hall’s comments about finishing Silva when Adesanya didn’t
“No shade, no bad blood or anything, none. Oh, he said something stupid. I saw there was a quote on Instagram, you know, ‘he danced with him, I finished him’. So, yeah, you did it in the fourth round, I only had three rounds with him. I hate it when people throw stupid shade like that.”
“Yeah, it’s a stupid statement. Yeah, I wasn’t really impressed.”
On Kevin Holland yelling at him post-fight and not wanting to feed the “Clout Trout”
“I don’t want to feed the clout trouts. You can’t fight a welterweight on two days’ notice, and his last opponent the same thing. He fought some guy on a few days’ notice, the guy who did the crazy spinning kick thing, on few days’ notice, and then started barking. And he’s like, ‘oh, shoot your shot’. Yeah, he shoots like a Storm Trooper. So, no, we’re not gonna talk about him. He’s a Clout Trout ultimate.”
On him versus Jan Blachowicz being officially next
“It’s official.”
“I guess Dana broke the news, so yeah, I’m going up to 205, and I’m gonna snatch that 205 strap. Respectfully.”
On how the outcome of Cannonier/Whittaker leading him to move to 205
“Yeah, pretty much. Robert did well to stifle Jared and broke his arm, and I was looking forward to that fight. So, I was like, alright. And then it’s like the ultimate alley-oop from the universe. I’m like, yes, it’s perfect. And this is the thing, you have to be flexible in this game. In life, you have to be flexible, cause nothing’s certain, nothing’s given. The landscape of things change all the time. And yeah, this is just right there for the taking. So, I was like, this is perfect. This is perfect for that Jones fight I keep talking about, this is perfect leading up to it. So, yeah, was it’s just right there for the taking.”
On understanding Whittaker’s perspective on not campaigning hard for their rematch
“I think his perspective is, I know what he means. I kind of get it. Like, you don’t have to force it. If you know, you know. And he knows. So, yeah, I’ll probably see him again in New Zealand down the line. And yeah, it’s one of those things I guess you don’t push or force. Like, he knows he’s… yeah, I get it. I get it, I get it.”
Why he may fight Jon Jones at heavyweight immediately after Jan Blachowicz, and how Comedian Andrew Shulz planted the seed
“I realize I’m about to do something in literally in three years, what Jones hasn’t even done in over how long in the company? Over 10 years. I’m about to do it in three years and move up in weight. He’s doing it now after how long? And we’re still waiting to seeing if he’s actually gonna do it. And like, it’s crazy how everything’s just set up, man. [When] I take this belt from Jan, if for whatever reason Jones actually moves up and fights at heavyweight, like, imagine if he got the belt somehow, by some freak of nature, and I’m like, fuck you, I’m going to heavyweight then. Three belts at the same time. Like, Andrew [Shulz] planted that seed in my head, and was just like, yup, makes sense, makes sense.”
Why winning the light heavyweight belt would be a “fuck you” to Jon Jones
“It’s just a big fuck you to him, just to be like, I did something you couldn’t. I mean, he cleared the division of the light heavyweight twice over and then started fighting recycled middleweights. So, don’t come at me talking about ‘move up in weight and fight’ when you can’t even do the same thing after over 10 years in the company. So, I’m actually about to do it. It’s a good fight for me to do it with.”
On why Jan’s a good fight for Israel to move up to 205 for
“With Jan, he’s a good fighter, he’s solid on the ground, he’s awkward on the feet, very dangerous, and he poses a lot of problems. And like, the Whittaker fight wouldn’t get me hard. This gets me hard. Like, this is like, alright, let’s go.”
“He’s dangerous on the ground, he’s awkward on the feet, got that legendary Polish power. But yeah, everyone’s got power, right? I mean, it’s something I proved in my last fight. I told y’all. You have to delivery that power somehow, you have to get it to the target. I’m not the easiest target to hit.”
On Jon “Blow” Jones’ downfall being that he put on weight to go up to heavyweight
“That’s Jon “Blow” Jones’ downfall. Like, ‘I need to move up in weight, pack on the size’. Some people are just stupid, they play the game so stupid. I’ve done it at kickboxing, I weighed in at heavyweight with my clothes on and a tray of Dunkin Donuts in my hand, and I was like 90-something kilograms. Like, skills, bro. Yeah, sure, you want to put on size? Alright. Is your body used to being that heavy? Are you used to moving around that heavy with the work-rate you were doing with all your previous fights? Yeah, I just don’t play the game like everyone else. I’ll just chill, I’ll stay me. I’m gonna get stronger, I always do, but I’m not gonna purposely put on muscle just so I can be at a weight class. Stupid.”
Why his feud with Jon Jones will go further than the Daniel Cormier feud
“Trust me, he doesn’t want a war with me. I’m only talking about him because you guys asked about it and I have to say something. So, I don’t talk about him unless I’m asked about him, I don’t speak back to him unless he says something stupid to me. He started all this on TMZ. Let me just [get this straight], he started all this. I didn’t have any intention to go to light heavyweight, then he’s was like, ‘I’d like to fight Israel Ade-Sanjya’ and ‘he could eat a little bit more jerked chicken,’ something, something, something. And I was like, huh? Oh, he wants to fight me? I was like, why the fuck does the light heavyweight champ want to fight me? I’m not even the middleweight champ yet.”
“I was like okay, alright, I guess this is happening. But yeah, trust me, I’m not one to war with. Certain things he did with DC, like, DC will tell you, talked about his Dad passing away, and Jon being like, ‘who’s your daddy? Who’s your daddy?’ Like, little lowkey jabs. I’m not the one to war with. I understand this game of war, I know strategy, and in a way that not many people would. Especially online. Cause, I’m a fucking troll. I can troll these motherfuckers. I’m not a troll in that sense that I hide behind a keyboard, I’ll come see you. I’ll come see you. And he knows that already.”
“Yeah, there’s certain lines that he already crossed when he brought my dad up. And I was like, right, I mentioned his mum. Everyone was like, ‘how could you mention his dead mother? Look, I don’t wait till my parents are dead until I put them on the pedestal, I don’t wait till they’re gone. I put them on a pedestal now. So, you don’t ever fucking put my parents name or anything about them in your fucking lips in your life. So, yeah, I don’t wait until my parents are dead until I put them on a pedestal, I do that now. And yeah, there’s more, there’s more. Trust me, you don’t want war, cause there’s more.”
On Jon Jones’ jealousy of him
“It’s fun and games, anyway. We’re gonna fight. Right now I’m focused on Jan, that’s my main thing. I don’t like dealing with fucking fuckbois like that anyway, cause he’s a clout trout. Fucking clout trout. Fucken big dick-sucking-lip clout trout. That’s what he is. Cause he sees what’s happening with me. And I’ve said this for so long, people can’t fathom why he’d be jealous of me, so they just think I’m lying. But I’m like, no, I can read it, it’s envy. It’s so easy to see when you know. If you know, you know.”