Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is a longtime friend of Jon Jones, but feels sad for Jones’ latest run-in with the law this past weekend in Las Vegas.
Jones was arrested by Las Vegas Police on charges of misdemeanor battery domestic violence and vehicle tampering charges. He allegedly assaulted his fiancee, Jessie Moses at the Caesars Palace hotel in Las Vegas just hours after his UFC Hall of Fame induction.
Silva has fully transitioned from MMA to boxing but is still widely regarded as one of the biggest names in the sport, and had a lot to say about Jones’ latest incident.
“I don’t know what happened with Jon Jones but I feel sad,” Silva said during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour. “Because I feel Jon Jones is my little brother. I [talk] with my manager all the time — [self]-sabotage. That’s come to make something bad in your [own] life. Jon Jones doesn’t need that.”
“He’s an amazing person. I feel sad. It’s tough for me to be talking about Jon Jones.”
Silva left the UFC after a long losing streak in the middleweight division but has found new-found success as a boxer after his vicious knockout over Tito Ortiz and split-decision over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Silva and Jones have been linked for many years after the two of them were two of the biggest names in the UFC as the middleweight and light heavyweight champions.
But it’s been a while since we’ve seen Jones fight in the octagon. He’s anticipating a move to heavyweight sometime next year but this latest incident could delay those plans. Jones has a court date on Oct. 26 and we could learn more about his fate at that time.
It’s clear that Silva has mixed feelings about Jones, but feels bad that he continues to self-sabotage in the midst of his success.