Israel Adesanya has hinted at a move up to the UFC’s light heavyweight division to challenge champion Jan Blachowicz.
The middleweight champion today tweeted, “champ squared,” which suggests his desire to challenge Blachowicz. Blachowicz had earlier tweeted about the possibility of the fight, as well, stating, “I have heard that Israel Adesanya wants to face me next. No problem, If you are ready to fight in March, let’s do this. Prepare for a some fireworks guys.”
In this video, Patrick Auger and Drake Riggs combine to discuss the possibility of Adesanya sliding up to the 205-pound weight class.
Riggs feels like it’s “too soon” for Adesanya to be considering other options but also admits that he wouldn’t be mad about it. There aren’t too many choices remaining at middleweight despite a rematch with Robert Whittaker and the only real consideration is whether it’ll take away an opportunity from a deserving light heavyweight contender. He believes the winner of Thiago Santos vs. Glover Teixeira should be next in line, but that all depends on what happens in the fight.
Auger agrees that middleweight is just a top-heavy division and there’s no one left for Adesanya to fight. Whittaker isn’t even actively campaigning for a title shot and that’s allowing Adesanya to make the move up if he desires. Auger also feels like the winner of Santos vs. Teixeira should be next in line.