Israel Adesanya Says He Still Wants Jon Jones Fight, But Doesn't Need It For Legacy

UFC superstar Israel Adesanya says he still wants to fight Jon Jones ... but, he doesn't need it to cement himself as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all-time.

The 32-year-old martial artist and middleweight champ stopped by the TMZ offices Thursday ... and talked about everything from his rivalry with Jones, Jorge Masvidal vs. Colby Covington, whether he has a future in acting, his rise to superstardom and the money and fame that comes along with it, his awesome walk-out before the first Robert Whittaker fight, and so much more.

(Check out the full interview with Stylebender ⬇️)

On 34-year-old Jones ... we asked Adesanya if he still wanted to fight him, despite Jon moving to heavyweight and not having fought in over 2 years.

"We'll see. Time will tell," Israel told Babcock.

"I don't need it, but I do want it. I don't need it, though. People think I need it for my legacy."

You may remember ... in 2019, Jon commented he believed he would eventually fight Izzy. The men then went back and forth, igniting a rivalry that exists to this day.

Jones now resides in the heavyweight division (206-265 lbs.) ... while Izzy fights at middleweight (up to 185 lbs.).

We asked Israel -- who has flirted with fighting at heavyweight -- if that's the division where the fight would happen.

"Nah, I like light heavyweight. That's where he was dominant so I really wanna go light heavyweight."

Adesanya -- arguably the greatest striker in UFC history -- showed off some of his arsenal in the TMZ newsroom ... using a round kick to knock a cup off of Harvey Levin's head.

Don't worry, Israel's okay 😄😄😄

Bottom line ... Adesanya is a superstar in every sense of the word.