When asked about the possibility of a super-fight with light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones, long-time middleweight title holder Anderson Silva’s response is usually to flat-out dismiss the idea, but in a new interview the star gives a rare indication he may be willing to fight him after all.
“My weight class is 185, my belt is of that weight class,” Silva told SporTV in Brazil yesterday. “But people are talking so much about this, and we are employees of the UFC. Of course, I could be saying that I don’t want it, but what if (Jones) goes out and accepts the money Dana is proposing for him to fight? It will be hard (not to accept it). It’s not the money that motivates me to fight, I fight because I like it. So, I don’t know. I wouldn’t like (to fight him). But if it’s going to happen, it would have to be at a catchweight. The belt shouldn’t be at play. I already have mine.”
The very fact that he’s now entertaining the idea of this fight is huge. As much as people are interested in seeing Silva Vs Georges St.Pierre – a ‘superfight’ that up until now had seemed closer to becoming a reality, many people believe that Silva Vs Jones is an even more exciting prospect.
Silva’s latest comments haven’t exactly come at on opportune time however since Jones has just signed up to coach TUF 17 opposite Chael Sonnen and then fight him in April of next year, while the likes of Dan Henderson, Lyoto Machida, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua and Alexander Gustafsson are all waiting impatiently for their shot at the title after that.
Dana White’s been vocal in recent times about his desire to see Silva and Jones compete in the UFC’s Octagon however, so this latest development will surely only fuel his desire to put this fight together at some stage in the coming year.
