Who could end up facing Israel Adesanya and Jan Blachowicz next?
Both fighters are coming off huge and dominant victories this past Saturday and its now time to figure out what’s next for the respective champions. In the case of UFC Middleweight Champion Adesanya, it appears that Jared Cannonier is next in line, should he beat Robert Whittaker next month:
“That’s the fight if Cannonier wins,” UFC president Dana White confirmed at the UFC 253 post fight press conference. “And I love that about Israel. He’s ready for who’s next, who else thinks they can beat me. The kid is an absolute stud.”
In terms of Blachowicz, the newly crowned UFC Light Heavyweight Champion took the time to call out former title holder Jon Jones, and while that match-up isn’t off the table, it’s likely that Glover Teixeira or Thiago Santos will get the opportunity next:
“Those are the guys that are fighting for the next shot,” White said about Santos vs. Teixeira. “But obviously if Jon Jones wanted that fight, we wouldn’t deny Jon Jones the opportunity.”
Jones responded to Blachowicz’s callout on Saturday and teased the possibility of having one more fight in the light heavyweight division:
At the moment, there’s no scheduled bout for Jon Jones. The former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion will likely face the winner of the rumored Stipe Miocic/ Francis Ngannou heavyweight title fight, though the match-up hasn’t been made official yet.