UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has been targeting fellow champion Jon Jones for the last couple of months now. Quite expectedly, “The Last Stylebender” had a lot to say after UFC 247, where “Bones” won a controversial decision against Dominick Reyes.
“I’ve seen him. I’ve seen what I needed to see. In the fifth round, he tried to turn it on, but he couldn’t,” Adesanya told Sporting News on Monday. “Compare his fifth round to my fifth round against Kelvin Gastelum; there’s a difference.
“He’s washed up. He’s done,” he continued. “His best years are behind him. He’s still great, but he’s washed up now. He wasn’t doing sh-t. He was winning the rounds, but it wasn’t really doing sh-t. He was trying, but there’s levels to this.”
While he says he scored the fight a draw, Adesanya also criticized the officiating for the fight.
“I liked the conversation Jon Anik, Joe Rogan and Dominick Cruz had after the fight, where they were appealing to the public, saying, ‘Please, can we come together for the greater good of the sport?’” he said.
”That was ridiculous. Whoever scored it like that, never judge again. Ever.”
Despite his post-fight sentiments, Adesanya still wants a piece of Jones for 2021 as he’d already planned out.
“I’ve seen what I needed to see; I’m the guy. First, I have to take care of Romero,” he said. “I have to take care of Paulo Costa and possibly Jared Cannonier, but 2021 — I don’t care if [Jones is] still the champ or not — Raiders Stadium [in Las Vegas] in 2021, I’m going to go up there to 205 and do what I do.”
Adesanya will face Yoel Romero for his first title defense at UFC 248 on March 7 in Las Vegas.