Jones: Adesanya would get 'ground-and-pounded to death' in fight

Jon Jones versus Israel Adesanya is no longer the superfight everyone wants to see - and according to Jones, that's probably for the best.

Jones, who regularly traded barbs with Adesanya on social media over the past two years, said he'd expose the current middleweight titleholder on the ground if they met in the Octagon.

"It's been a really long time since I fought someone (with) such a low level of grappling," tweeted Jones, the former UFC light heavyweight champion, on Saturday. "He would've (gotten) ground-and-pounded to death."

Jones-Adesanya was a dream matchup for many MMA fans until Adesanya suffered his first career loss in a move up to 205 pounds against then-champ Jan Blachowicz in March. Blachowicz pulled away in the championship rounds by securing takedowns against Adesanya and maintaining top control.

Adesanya returned to middleweight following his unsuccessful bid for a second UFC belt, a sign that a Jones fight is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future. "The Last Stylebender" defended his throne in a June rematch with Marvin Vettori via a unanimous-decision win.

However, Adesanya doesn't seem to think a Jones fight is off the table for good, saying as recently as August that he believes they'll square off "one day."

Jones, who hasn't stepped into the Octagon since a February 2020 bout against Dominick Reyes, is expected to compete at heavyweight in his next fight. However, it's unclear when he'll return.

The 34-year-old was supposed to get a heavyweight title shot against Francis Ngannou earlier in 2021, but a financial dispute with the UFC has kept him sidelined. Jones was arrested in September on charges of misdemeanor battery domestic violence and injuring or tampering with a vehicle.