If Jon Jones is trying to rile up Israel Adesanya, it does not appear to be working.

On Saturday at UFC 243, Adesanya became the newest undisputed champion in the UFC, knocking out Robert Whittaker in the second round to unify the titles. Shortly afterwards, light heavyweight champion Jon Jones took to Twitter, throwing shade at Adesanya for targeting a fight with him in two years instead of immediately. Well yesterday, Adesanya responded, saying that Jones is just trying to bait him but that he can’t jump up immediately because he needs to defend the middleweight title against the top contenders first. After that, Adesanya says, then he will come for Jones.

“You saw what I did this weekend?” Adesanya told Ariel Helwani. “My confidence? Get my f*cking nuts out of your mouth, bruh. . . This guy obviously is trying to force my hand. He’s trying to force my hand and I’m not stupid. It’s not about I’m not confident. Trust me, I will f*ck this motherf*cker up when I fight him. I just have to do what I have to do. I have to defend my belt. I just defended my belt and I am the new unified king. There’s three more killers, four more killers I have to f*ck up at middleweight first. And then, then I will move up in weight, then I’ll jump up and f*ck this guy [up].”

What started out as a fun hypothetical has turned increasingly chippy between Jones and Adesanya. Jones first threw out the idea that the two would eventually fight but then seemingly took offense to Adesanya believing he could actually win such a fight. Now, on the biggest weekend of his life, Adesanya says Jones is just trying to steal his shine, pointing out that Jones has been a champion (on and off) since 2011 and has repeatedly downplayed the idea of moving up a weight class, whereas he just won the undisputed title and already has a set date in mind for when he’ll move up.

“I can’t wait,” Adesanya said. “I plan everything from the jump. I showed everyone, this is what I am going to do and this is how I am going to do it. And I already said Raiders Stadium, Las Vegas, 2021. And he’s f*cking contradicting himself. ‘Oh I think I’m alright here, I’m not going to move up to heavyweight,’ this and that. ‘Why do I have to move up to heavyweight? I don’t want to fight DC at heavyweight. Now DC is retiring, okay I might move up to heavyweight.’

“He’s just contradicting himself. He’s just trying to take my moment. You can’t even f*ck with me right now, dude. Look at me, Ariel! Who the f*ck is the new face of UFC? Do you think Jon Jones can ever pull some sh*t like that? I saw him with that f*cking bullsh*t ass Nelly entrance when he did the electric slide or some sh*t. Bruh, this ain’t the same person. You can’t f*ck with me on anything.”

In the end, Adesanya said, it all comes down to the same thing it was the last time Jones took shots at him on Twitter, Adesanya is the new hot thing in the UFC and Jones is just jealous. But Adesanya assures the fans, who he says Jones is among, that his move up to 205 will come in due time, and when it does, it’s curtains for the champ.

“He is jealous,” Adesanya said. “He sees the freshman that is f*cking taking all the shine. He sees the guy that’s the f*cking new dog in the yard. And they’re intimidated, they’re jealous and they don’t know how to act.

“He’s always been a fan and he’s still a fan. I know he’s a fan but he’s always just trying to do what he does and I’m like, ‘Just wait your turn.’ I am not going to be one of these guys who doesn’t defend his belt. I am going to defend my belt actively. I am not going to be like him and fight twice a year. They’re all trying to copy my sh*t so let me just defend my belt, then I will move up and I’ll come f*ck him up.”

Adesanya will presumably face Paulo Costa next in the first defense of his UFC title.

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MUST-READ STORIES

Beef. Jon Jones predicts he’ll be a heavyweight before Israel Adesanya ‘gets his confidence together’ for potential matchup.

Curious. Dhiego Lima to appeal split decision win over Luke Jumeau at UFC 243, seeking unanimous decision.

Rejected. UFC denies Edson Barboza’s appeal of Paul Felder loss; manager appeals Alex Oliveira’s defeat to Nicolas Dalby.

Big time. Tito Ortiz vs. Alberto El Patron announced for Combate Americas show on Dec. 7.

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VIDEO STEW

UFC 243 Coffee Talk.

Mom Champ.

Khabib on Conor and Tony.

Gaethje trashing Conor.

Free fight.

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LISTEN UP

Fights Gone By. Jack Slack discussing UFC 243 and Israel Adesanya.

Anik & Florian. Recapping UFC 243 and discussing UFC Tampa.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

City Kickboxing on the come up.

I have no idea what this means.

Dan Hooker.

Ngannou is ready to rock.

Durinho is an absolute animal.

Champion ruby.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Rena Kubota (8-3) vs. Alexandra Alvare (0-3); Rizin 19, Oct. 12.

Joshua Pacio (17-3) vs. Rene Catalan (6-2); ONE Championship, Nov. 8.

Eduard Folayang (21-8) vs. Amarsanaa Tsogookhuu (5-1); ONE Championship, Nov. 8.

Geje Eustaquio (12-8) vs. Toni Tauru (11-7-1); ONE Championship, Nov. 8.

Yoshitaka Naito (14-3) vs. Pongsiri Mitsatit (10-3); ONE Championship, Nov. 8.

Nong Stamp (2-0) vs. Bi Nguyen (5-4); ONE Championship, Nov. 8.

Denise Kielholtz (3-2) vs. Sabriye Sengul (0-0); Bellator London, Nov. 23.

Tito Ortiz (20-12-1) vs. Alberto Rodriguez (9-5); Combate Americas Dec. 7.

Veronica Macedo (6-3-1) vs. Amanda Lemos (6-1-1); UFC Busan, Dec. 21.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

I laid it all out here, but the UFC should just go ahead and book Adesanya-Jones. That’s good fun and it’s not like meritocracy lives in this thing anyway.

Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow.

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EXIT POLL

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