Jon Jones is Betting Favorite in Potential Bout Versus Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya is coming off a spectacular knockout win over challenger Paulo Costa last weekend at UFC 253. Jon Jones teased about a potential comeback to reclaim his old belt which Jan Blachowicz won against Dominick Reyes last Saturday. UFC President Dana White announced that if Jared Cannonier beats Robert Whitaker, he will be next in line for The Last Stylebender. White also revealed that the winner between Thiago Santos and Glover Teixeira will challenge Blachowicz for the 205-pound title.

Amidst those events and pronouncements, Jon Jones entered the picture once again. Jones and Adesanya have gone back and forth on social media before. They didn’t call each other out this time around but still had words for each other.

Jones Opens As Betting Favorite

During the post-fight press conference for UFC 253, Izzy was asked about a potential move to the 205-pound division and this was his reply:

“Maybe, but I’ll have to ask [head coach] Eugene [Bareman]. But like what I said about Anderson Silva — Anderson Silva defended this belt so many times in the middleweight division and then he went up to light heavyweight for little shows. I just wanted to f**k up Jon Jones and I still will. But I’ll just have to talk to Eugene cause even he talked about Stipe Miocic and other things. So yeah, everything’s open. Cheddar makes it better.”

Jones later posted on social media where he even threatened to cut off one of Izzy’s arms:

The moment I heard but… 😂 Bro you’re younger than me and have four times the fighting experience. Grow some balls already pic.twitter.com/YlpUwEEqvk

— BONY (@JonnyBones) September 28, 2020

Jon Jones snipes at Israel Adesanya 👀 pic.twitter.com/X7BlIuLZY3

— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) September 28, 2020

Apparently, those statements from the two superstars were enough for the oddsmakers to believe that a Jones vs Adesanya showdown is a possibility.

The best online sportsbooks have opened the betting lines for a Jon Jones vs Israel Adesanya bout. But while they agree that Jones is the betting favorite in this matchup, they are at odds as to by how much.

Bones has opened as a considerable -375 betting favorite over Adesanya who came back as a +285 underdog at Bovada.lv. However, The Last Stylebender is just a slight +130 dog against Jones’ -150 at BetOnline.ag. So if you think that Jones got this, go with the latter. However, if you fancy Adesanya, take the former.

Not Happening Soon

UFC President Dana White is on board a Jones vs Adesanya super fight. Who wouldn’t be right now? That’s probably the biggest fight to be made not including a man named McGregor. However, after laying out plans for Adesanya and Blachowicz earlier this week, it appears that this showdown between champions isn’t happening soon.

Adesanya has made two successful defenses of the middleweight title. But if he is serious about following the path of Anderson Silva, he still needs to clean up the 185-pound weight class before moving up to light heavyweight.

And when you talk about middleweight, there are still several names out there like Cannonier, Hermansson, Till, and Brunson whom Adesanya has yet to face.

As for Jones, he has been teasing about moving up to heavyweight. It’s something that Jones has been talking about since the days of Cain Velasquez. Jones has cleaned up 205 pounds and has nothing to prove there. A couple of days ago, Jones talked about getting his belt back and maybe fighting Blachowicz so that is a good sign. But if Jones is dead-serious about challenging Stipe Miocic for the UFC heavyweight title, then we may have to kiss this proposition goodbye.