Adesanya believes he'll fight Jones: 'He's getting fat for no reason'

With Jon Jones preparing himself for a potential debut at heavyweight and Israel Adesanya having returned to middleweight, a fight between the two MMA stars seems unlikely. However, Adesanya believes the epic matchup will happen at some point.

"We'll fight one day," Adesanya recently said on "The MMA Hour," according to MMA Fighting's Shaun Al-Shatti. "I don't know where or how it's going to happen. I just have an idea of what's going to happen. But yeah, see if he moves up in weight first ... and deals with these guys there. I think he can, but does he think he can?"

Adesanya doesn't think Jones will actually compete at heavyweight, stating, "He's been saying this since 2013. You either get it done or you don't."

Adesanya later added: "He's getting fat for no reason."

For his part, "The Last Stylebender" moved up to light heavyweight to fight Jan Blachowicz for the title last March. However, he suffered a decision loss before returning to middleweight.

"I jumped up (a division) within three years of (being with) the company," said Adesanya, who defended the 185-pound belt for the third time after defeating Marvin Vettori in June.

He added: "The guys up there respect me - even the champion up there gave me my props. So, yeah, I just think it's not something that anyone can do."

Jones hasn't fought since defeating Dominick Reyes by unanimous decision in February 2020.