10 hours ago
Israel Adesanya thinks Jon Jones is 'rage-baiting,' will fight again in the UFC
Israel Adesanya is convinced that Jon Jones will come out of retirement.
Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) relinquished his UFC heavyweight title and called it a career. As a result, Tom Aspinall was promoted from interim to undisputed champion.
Adesanya isn't buying Jones' retirement. He thinks the all-time great will eventually come back, and only walked away because of the current legal issues he's going through, where he's alleged to have been involved in a hit-and-run situation February in Albuquerque.
"I think he'll come back," Adesanya said on "The Ariel Helwani Show." "It's just the drama of it. ... What do they call it now? The kids call it rage-baiting. It's working. I don't agree with the fact of holding up the division. Tom defended the belt. That's a defense on his book. Let the division keep moving, and now it moves forward. Now this whole thing comes out because it happened in February or whatever. F*cking that's why he retired.
"I think he'll go through this and then, again, he'll come back. I think he'll fight Tom. It's just too much money. They offered him what, $20 (million or) $30 million, I heard. Yeah, I think he'll come back. It'll even be bigger by the time he comes back because Tom would have had like two fights or three fights and then built up his own legacy, as well."
Adesanya wasn't ready to say Aspinall is the guy to beat Jones, but dubs the Brit as legit as advertised.
"I think Tom definitely is the guy," Adesanya said. "I've sat next to Tom and his father, and people say this about me on TV, 'Oh, you're so much bigger in person.' Tom is a huge dude, and the speed. It's the speed for me. For a heavyweight, I don't understand. I asked him about it, and he's like, 'I think fast.' I understand what he means neurologically. I do that, as well. When you're working, no matter how tired you are, you're still trying to give 100 percent in that moment on the Airdyne (bike) or whatever, just so your neurons are firing or wiring with that thing in mind."
