UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones does not want to take on UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in a superfight.
In a recent interview, Jones told the Los Angeles radio station ESPN LA AM 710 that he views a fight with Silva as a “lose-lose situation.”
“It’s not that he won’t fight me or I won’t fight him,” Jones said. “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.”
It’s no secret that mixed martial arts fans want to see a superfight between two UFC champions. A potential matchup between Silva and UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has been talked about for a long time
However, after Jones’ meteoric rise to superstardom the talk in the MMA world began to shift from “GSP vs. Silva” to “Jones vs. Silva.”
Contributing factors include Silva being closer in size to Jones than GSP is to Silva, plus the fact that St-Pierre has been out of action recovering from a series of injuries for over a year.
“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 winner — being a champion,” Jones said. “Having us fight each other means one of our championships goes away.”
Jones is not focused on a potential bout with Silva for another reason; he fights former Pride and Strikeforce champion Dan Henderson in the main event at UFC 151 on Sept. 1 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Although UFC president Dana White, along with Jones and Silva, have not completely ruled out the possibility of a superfight, it’s highly unlikely it will happen anytime soon.
“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.”
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