(It’s completely involuntary at this point — even when somebody tries to pat Anderson on the back, he slips it.)
Anderson Silva has beaten up enough middleweights, right? We can all agree on that? Now that he’s finished his toughest rival for the second time, the UFC legend is looking ahead to a pack of potential challengers — including Michael Bisping*, Hector Lombard**, and Mark Munoz*** — who, frankly, wouldn’t pose many challenges that Silva hasn’t already met and overcome. And with his competitive days running out, don’t we want to see Anderson in a super-fight against somebody who might actually give him a run for his money?
Well, Jon Jones doesn’t want to be that guy, so stop asking. During an appearance on ESPN’s Max & Marcellus show yesterday (via BleacherReport), the UFC’s light-heavyweight champ laid out exactly why he’s not interested in a date with the Spider. And while you might not appreciate the explanation, you have to respect his honesty. Maybe. Here’s what he said:
“It’s not that he won’t fight me or I won’t fight him. To be dead honest, it’s that we both have a lot to lose and we both respect each other a lot and we both are striving for personal greatness. I don’t want to crack on his greatness and I don’t want him cracking on my greatness. We’re in completely different weight classes. We both have sponsor deals and things that are really important to us and a big part of that sponsorship package is being a winning…being a champion. Having us fight each other means one of our championships goes away. I respect Anderson Silva so much that I don’t want to be the guy to beat him. I don’t want to lose to him either. It’s a lose-lose situation for me.”
In other words, losing is bad for business. Also, some crap about “respect,” but I think we get the point. For the record, Anderson Silva also has no interest in a fight with Jones — but UFC president Dana White hasn’t given up hope yet. “[Silva] said he wouldn’t fight Chael again, either,” White told USA Today. ”The two times he went to 205, it wasn’t because he wanted to, it was because I asked him to…Let’s see what happens.”
Anybody think Dana can strong-arm two of his champions into giving the fans a super-fight for the ages? Or has Jones convinced you that this fight would do more harm than good?
* The British Rich Franklin, basically.
** The Cuban Vitor Belfort, basically.
*** The Filipino-American Chael Sonnen, basically.