People say Adesanya wants to piss off Jones by taking his old LHW title, but I don't see really how that would make Jones mad, since he didn't want that belt anymore and vacated it.
But what would make Jones really mad would be if Adesanya won the LHW belt in March and right away challange the winner of Miocic/Ngannou. That would drive Jones crazy, since
- he is struggling to get a money fight from the UFC
- doesn't want to take a fight at HW without the belt on the line
- would put Jones far behind in hype and ratings behind Adesanya
I don't think it's that creazy of a thought. Izzy is 2 to 1 favorite against Błachowicz. Should he win in March he isn't really going to have a big new contenter at MW, he doesn't have to defend his LHW title right away (at least not if Błachowicz win is one sided) and having a double champ going for a tripple champ status would drive a lot of PPV. Besides Adesanya right now seems to be a less risky investment for the UFC than Jones. Why should they give the older, off & on and fighting over money Jones, that isn't even a champ the chance at the HW title, instead of Isreal?
From a competive perspective Adesanya has fought at HW in Glory i 6'4 so it's not like he couln't realistically take on a 233 pound Miocic.
But what would make Jones really mad would be if Adesanya won the LHW belt in March and right away challange the winner of Miocic/Ngannou. That would drive Jones crazy, since
- he is struggling to get a money fight from the UFC
- doesn't want to take a fight at HW without the belt on the line
- would put Jones far behind in hype and ratings behind Adesanya
I don't think it's that creazy of a thought. Izzy is 2 to 1 favorite against Błachowicz. Should he win in March he isn't really going to have a big new contenter at MW, he doesn't have to defend his LHW title right away (at least not if Błachowicz win is one sided) and having a double champ going for a tripple champ status would drive a lot of PPV. Besides Adesanya right now seems to be a less risky investment for the UFC than Jones. Why should they give the older, off & on and fighting over money Jones, that isn't even a champ the chance at the HW title, instead of Isreal?
From a competive perspective Adesanya has fought at HW in Glory i 6'4 so it's not like he couln't realistically take on a 233 pound Miocic.
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