Jon Jones: Anderson Silva Disrespected His Gift
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones recently had his potential mega fight versus Anderson Silva squashed at last weekend’s UFC 162. While the bout could still take place one day, there’s just no doubt that it definitely lost of lot of its shine when Chris Weidman was crowned the new middleweight champ.
Regardless, Jones was already scheduled to take on Alexander ‘The Mauler’ Gustafsson in Toronto at September 21st’s UFC 165. A preliminary press conference went down in Toronto today, and Jones spoke up to address the inevitable questions about Silva’s shocking loss. While Jones has an interesting perspective on the subject, there may be some truth to his words:
“”I think Anderson Silva is a magnificent fighter. I think that he has an extraordinary gift. I think he’s gotten to the point where he really believes in his gift and he’s comfortable with his gift. He abused his gift, disrespected his gift, by disrespecting his opponent. Martial arts is a sport that is traditionally based around honor and integrity. You treat people with respect. He somehow lost sight of that and paid the ultimate price for it. I’m not over the Anderson Silva hype train. He was fighting at a masterful level, he just got disrespectful and the War Gods made him pay for it. He’s still great in my book.”
While the “War Gods” may or may not have issued Silva his comeuppance for mocking his obviously very dangerous opponent, it remains clear that ‘The Spider’ is still one of the finest martial artists in the game. Whether he finds new motivation to come back and take the title away from Chris Weidman will remain to be seen. If he does just that, the prospect of a bout with Jones could receive a new shine.
Check out the full press conference below:
