Despite suffering a devastating knockout loss that cost Anderson Silva his middleweight title this summer, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is still eyeing a showdown with “The Spider.”
Speaking one-on-one with Fighters Only, “Bones” said that all the legendary Brazilian has to do is beat Chris Weidman in their rematch at UFC 168 to pique fan interest in a potential Jones-Silva superfight again:
All Anderson has to do is win his next fight decisively and there’s the interest right there. It’s still on, the superfight,” Jones said. “I’ve never really been overly anxious to face Anderson Silva though to be honest. I knew the fight could happen but I never had any desire to be the one to beat him or anything like that … After he lost I Tweeted about my disappointment and that him losing sucked, but it was just because watching a champion lose always sucks. It’s like he’s also a member of this special league of gentlemen and when you see one of the guys get taken down it sucks. But Anderson, and any thought of a superfight, well, it’s still there.
After winning 17 fights in a row—including a record-setting 10 UFC middleweight title defenses—Silva got knocked out by “The All-American” at UFC 162 in July, ending his nearly seven-year reign atop the 185-pound division.
Some pundits believe Silva’s excessive taunting had gotten the best of him, while others believe he had met his match in the 29-year-old New York native.
One side of the argument will be put to rest when the two square off again on December 28, which, like their first fight, takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
On the other hand, Jones will attempt to break Tito Ortiz’s UFC record of five successful light heavyweight title defenses next Saturday at UFC 165 in Toronto, Canada.
Jones enters the title bout on the strength of nine straight victories (eight finishes), while challenger Alexander Gustafsson rattled off six straight wins (four finishes) to get a crack at the gold.
Should Silva avenge his loss to Weidman later this year, and Jones defeats Gustafsson next week, how compelling would a Jones vs. Silva superfight become for mid-2014?
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.
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