UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker is ready to pump the brakes on all this talk about Israel Adesanya moving up to 205 pounds to challenge Jon Jones.

Adesanya became the interim middleweight champion this past weekend at UFC 236 but since then he’s engaged in a back and forth war of words with Jones, who is the longest reigning light heavyweight champion in UFC history.

As impressive as Adesanya has been through the early part of his UFC career, Whittaker cautions biting off more than he can chew and that’s exactly what he would be doing by facing Jones now or any time soon.

That’s not the case for Whittaker, however, as he says a potential move to light heavyweight to meet Jones would definitely be something that interests him once he’s finished cleaning out the middleweight division.

“He’s kind of cleaned out his division. It’s one of those things, like, yeah, we’ll have to wait and see. I’m gonna fight Adesanya, then I’ll be a little free myself,” Whittaker told Submission Radio when asked about a potential fight against Jones. “I’ll definitely move up, not down. But if he’s (Jon Jones) looking for opponents, that’s a fight, that’s a great fight.

“I think I could just give him a run for his money. I surprise a lot of people and I’m full of tricks, and I think the intensity I bring into a fight is something that a lot of people aren’t prepared for. But he’s a great fighter, he’s super, super dangerous. I’m under no illusion how hard it would be, and yeah, I think it would be fun.”


When it comes to Adesanya’s chances to be the person to finally dethrone Jones, Whittaker can’t help but scoff at that suggestion.

“I think Jon Jones would kill him,” Whittaker said with a laugh. “Yeah, I think it’s silly, but then Israel just kind of take jabs and bites out of everyone, doesn’t he? Yeah, he’s got a big mouth.”