Jon Jones vs. Anderson Silva-Will We See The Super Fight This Year?
In recent months, there has been a lot of speculation and hype surrounding a potential super fight between Anderson Silva and Jon Jones. Some fans have also suggested that there are few fighters outside of Chris Weidman that could present a serious threat to Anderson Silva’s middleweight title. Chris Weidman is scheduled to face Anderson Silva on July 7th at UFC 162 in Las Vegas.
Looking over the list of contracted UFC fighters within the middleweight division, it would appear that the next prospective fighter worthy of a challenge after Weidman would be Vitor Belfort and possibly USAsi”>Gegard MoUSAsi should he successfully drop to middleweight. With Anderson Silva having already defeated Vitor Belfort, it is unlikely that Silva would be interested in a rematch after delivering one of the most spectacular knock out finishes. Ronaldo Souza is another up and coming contender; however, with previous losses to both MoUSAsi and Luke Rockhold he would need to get some big wins on his UFC resume to secure a shot in the future.
If Anderson Silva is successful in defeating Weidman, the only speed bump on the road for the Super fight will be the recovery of Bones recent foot injury. With Anderson Silva already 38 years of age, the booking of a super fight cannot wait much longer.
You may recall that many boxing fans lost out on a potential super fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jnr due to failed negotiations. Although the UFC have encountered problems in the past when trying to negotiate a deal for Fedor Emelianenko, unlike Fedor, both Anderson Silva and Jon Jones are already under contract with the UFC. This would suggest that negotiations are less likely to stall.
If the fight does take place, Jon Jones will have almost a 7 inch reach advantage over Silva, not to mention the 13 year age difference. Jon Jones is similar in size to Anderson Silva’s former opponent Stefan Bonnar, both fighters standing 6 ft 4 inches. Bonnar however only had an 80 inch reach compared to Bones 84.5 inch reach. This compares to Anderson Silva’s height of 6ft 2 inches with a 77.6 inch reach.
Another interesting aspect of the super fight will be wrestling. If Chael Sonnen was able to dominate Anderson Silva for almost five rounds with his wrestling, it makes you wonder the capabilities of Jon Jones who completely dominated Chael Sonnen on the ground and made it look easy. It is a frightening prospect considering the history of ground n pound damage Jon Jones has inflicted upon his opponents. Jon Jones made a point of beating Chael Sonnen at his own game. It will be interesting to see whether Jon Jones exercises caution or tests his confidence on the feet against the best striker in the UFC.
As fight fans, what game plan do you see Jon Jones employing against Anderson Silva? Will Jon Jones try to ‘Anderson Silva’ Anderson Silva on the feet the same way he made an example over Chael Sonnen. Or will Jon Jones look for a more conservative approach?
