In a perfect world, Israel Adesanya would be facing Jon Jones in a Light Heavyweight title fight this Saturday night (March 6, 2021) at UFC 259 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Instead, Jones is busy putting some more meat on his “Bones” in anticipation of his eventual debut at Heavyweight, while “The Last Stylebender” will be facing current 205-pound champion Jan Blachowicz.
While still a great title fight, the one fans really wanted was to see Jones defend the belt he had for so long against the current Middleweight champion. After all, the two have been throwing verbal jabs at each other for the last few years, so it only seemed logical that it would happen.
And it still may very well go down, just don’t expect it to happen this summer, which is what was originally discussed. That’s because Adesanya has now pushed back the date to possibly the end of the year because he wants the showdown to go down in a packed arena.
“Unfortunately it may not be in summer or July, but there is still December. There is still December 2021,” the 185-pound champion said during a recent interview with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani. “All I know is that fight needs a crowd. I can’t do that in an empty arena.”
Dana White and Co. are hoping to start allowing fans into the events this summer, but there is still a lot of uncertainty surround the COVID-19 pandemic. While numbers are expected to drop thanks to the massive vaccination effort, there is no telling what exactly will happen in a few months.
Then again, even if fans are allowed back into the arenas by December, there is no telling where Jones will be at that point in time. He is currently waiting to see what will happen when 265-pound champion Stipe Miocic takes on Francis Ngannou at UFC 260 on March 27, 2021. That’s because he will face the winner, which could possibly happen in the summer time.
The outcome of that fight will likely determine whether or not Jones decides to drop back down to Light Heavyweight or stick around in the land of the big men. Then again, Adesanya recently said he is more than willing to pack on the pounds to face “Bones” at Heavyweight.
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