What’s Next for Israel Adesanya: Jones, Whittaker, or Vettori?

At UFC 259, Israel Adesanya made the move up to light heavyweight to challenge champion Jan Blachowicz for the title. Adesanya, the current middleweight champion, was attempting to become the 5^th champ-champ in the promotion’s history.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned for Adesanya as Blachowicz pulled off the upset and won via unanimous decision.

Now, fans and pundits are wondering what’s next for the middleweight champ. UFC betting sites have attempted to address this question with the following Israel Adesanya prop bet that looks at a list of potential opponents for the “Stylebender’s” next fight:

Quick Recap of Adesanya vs Blachowicz

Heading into the PPV, Adesanya was the betting favorite as high as -300 with some online betting sites. Many fans and pundits believed that he was going to pull off the victory and eventually set up a superfight with Jon Jones. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

The size difference played a major part in Blachowicz winning this fight. He was stronger, hit harder and able to use the size disparity to keep Adesanya on the mat in the championship rounds.

In the end, the judges scored the fight (49-46, 49-45, 49-45) in favor of the Blachowicz. Not only did he land some big takedowns late in the fight, but Jan also landed more significant strikes than Adesanya at 107 to 78 including 28-12 in the final round.

For Adesanya, he took the defeat graciously as he made the following comments:

“It didn’t go exactly the way I wanted it to go, but dare to be great. You know, the critics are the ones on the sideline, but I’m the one putting it on the line. If I was gonna lose to anyone, I’m glad I lost to him. Credit to him. He’s a great champion.”

Israel Adesanya and Dana White share the same vision for the future after #UFC259 https://t.co/6dQm1CsRjw

— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) March 8, 2021

What’s Next for Adesanya?

These odds on Israel Adesanya’s next opponent are courtesy of the best online sports betting sites.

• Robert Whittaker (+200)
• Darren Till (+300)
• Marvin Vettori (+400)
• Paulo Costa (+600)
• Jon Jones (+800)
• Jan Blachowicz (+1000)
• Kevin Holland (+1200)
• Derek Brunson (+2000)

Whittaker (+200) vs Costa (+600)

Robert Whittaker will take on Paulo Costa on April 17^th in what will be a hard hitting main event fight.

Whittaker lost the middleweight title to Adesanya in the fall of 2019 and stormed back in 2020 to soundly defeat Darren Till and Jared Cannonier. Yet, instead of resting on those wins, he agreed to fight Costa which he has more to lose than win.

Last year, Costa was crushed by Adesanya in his bid to win the title. It was the Brazilian’s first professional loss and a humiliating one.

Both men have lost to Adesanya and both want that rematch. Costa might have the size, strength and power advantages, but Whittaker is the better striker with the speed and technical advantages. I expect Whittaker to play to his strengths and stay out of prolonged exchanges in a clinch or against the cage.

I’m taking Whittaker to win this bout.

Vettori (+400) vs Till (+300)

Like Whittaker and Costa, Marvin Vettori has fought Adesanya before. However, prior to Israel’s loss to Jan Blachowicz, his fight against Vettori was the closest he had come to losing. Adesanya won via split decision.

Yet, Adesanya dismisses any rematch against Vettori. In fact, he dismisses any rematch against Whittaker and Costa as well. Instead, the middleweight champ would prefer to fight Darrent Till if he can keep winning:

“I just keep saying, I hope he keeps winning so we can have that fight because you know the vibes. I just like that style… If he wants to be that Muay Thai master and he thinks he can stand up with me, be my guest. Ya I like Till, I like the style and I’ll like to fight him but he just gotta win man. He just gotta get his sh*t together and keep winning, Till. Come on, scouser.”

The Till vs Vettori fight will take place on April 10^th, one week before the Whittaker vs Costa battle. Till is ranked 4^th and Vettori is ranked 5^th in the division.

Israel Adesanya hasn’t given up on Darren Till as a potential opponent 👀

(via @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/ot20Uf2heN

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 2, 2021

For Till, he is 1-1 as a middleweight with a win over Gastelum and the loss to Whittaker. He was 5-2-1 as a welterweight.

Vettori is 6-2-1 in the UFC with all nine fights as a middleweight. He’s won four in a row including a solid win over Jack Hermansson.

I believe Vettori has the slight edge in this matchup. Even if Till wins this bout, there’s no way he leap frogs Whittaker who beat him last year, unless Whittaker loses badly to Costa.

Holland (+1200) vs Brunson (+2000)

Holland is ranked 10^th in the division and Brunson is ranked 7^th. These two will fight on March 20^th with the winner making a huge step towards the Top 5.

Holland comes in having won five fights last year including a TKO win over Jacare Souza at UFC 256. Brunson has won three in a row including derailing the Edmen Shahbazyan train last August.

This will be an entertaining bout, which I feel that Holland will win. But, neither man will be next in line to take on Adesanya. They’re at least two wins away from a title shot.

Rematch Against Blachowicz (+1000)

This isn’t going to happen. Adesanya’s loss to Blachowicz more than likely ended Israel’s chances at competing in the light heavyweight division especially against Jon Jones.

Even if both fighters and the UFC wanted to run a rematch again, the outcome would be the same. Blachowicz is just too big and talented for Adesanya to overcome the size, strength and power disparities.

Instead, the Polish champion has stated that he’s going to take some time off and not fight again until December. At that point, he wants to take on Glover Teixeira who is the #1 contender in the light heavyweight division:

“I think [Teixeira] deserves it. He’ll have to wait a little bit so I can rest and be with my family. But he will wait. He will be next.”

Superfight vs Jon Jones

Another big factor as to why Adesanya went up to light heavyweight was to chase down Jon Jones and force a superfight as the two have had some heated exchanges over the last year or so.

During the UFC 259 main event, Jones took to Twitter to criticize Adesanya. By the 4^th round, Jones simply said

“Yeah never mind, that’s not even worth my time.”

With the loss to Blachowicz, there’s no way that a superfight between Adesanya and Jones will be made now.

Instead, Israel will return to the middleweight division and Jones will continue with his plans to move up to heavyweight and fight for the title by the end of the year.

Who Will Adesanya Fight Next?

It’s clear, Adesanya will return to the middleweight division and most likely compete in the fall. His next opponent depends on what happens with two huge divisional fights.

If Robert Whittaker defeats Paulo Costa then he’s going to be the next opponent for the middleweight title. Whittaker was the former champ and has yet to get a rematch.

Robert Whittaker’s Gameplan and prediction vs Paulo Costa pic.twitter.com/AGJfHQS7xD

— Eli 🇦🇺 (@RobsChestPound) March 2, 2021

But, if Whittaker loses, then that opens up the door for the winner of Till vs Vettori. I expect Vettori to win that contest and continue his pursuit of a long awaited rematch against Adesanya.

Ultimately, I do believe Whittaker will defeat Costa. So, bet on the former champ to be Adesanya’s next opponent.