Jones: I will tear one of your arms off
UFC legend Jon Jones has warned Israel Adesanya he would tear off one of the Kiwi’s arms if they fought at heavyweight.
A clash between the two has been brewing for some time and Jones ramped up their rivalry in the wake of Adesanya’s stunning defence of his middleweight belt at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi last Sunday.
The card also saw Jones’ vacated light-heavyweight title taken by Jan Blachowicz.
Jones has stepped up to heavyweight and there has been talk of him meeting Adesanya at that weight. Interestingly, Adesanya has moved up one spot to third in the UFC poundfor-pound rankings where Jones is No 1. Adesanya leapfrogged heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic into third.
The unbeaten Adesanya reiterated that Jones remains on his radar. But he first wants to clear out the middleweight division and looks capable of doing that such was his dominance of the highly-touted Brazilian Paulo Costa last weekend.
Jones made sure Adesanya hadn’t forgotten about him in a volatile Instagram post where he questioned the Kiwi-nigerian’s reliance on his outstanding legwork and suggested he was merely increasing his profile by continuing to talk up their meeting.
‘‘You don’t want real confrontation with me, I’m not gonna just stand there and kickbox with you,’’ Jones said. ‘‘I’ve been preparing for heavyweights, right around now I would literally tear one of your arms off.’’
The potential match-up continues to grab attention and American bookmakers even released odds this week after Adesanya’s win.
They see Jones as a heavy favourite.