Now is Not the Time for Jones vs. Silva
In the wake of Jon Jones’ destructive win over “Shogun” Rua there is one fight that a lot of people seem to be clamoring to see, and it isn’t Jones vs. Rashad Evans. While Evans has already been named as the next contender for Jones’ newly won UFC Light Heavyweight Championship there seems to already be a lot of support behind a completely different direction.
There are a lot of people who now think we need to see Jon Jones vs. Anderson Silva, but I’m not one of them. Here’s why.
First I think that Jones needs the opportunity to establish himself as his division’s top fighter. The reason a Silva vs. Georges St. Pierre superfight has so much potential is because both fighters are the undisputed kings of their weight classes. As of this writing we’re less than 24 hours into Jones’ title reign. The man needs to worry about defending his belt against a former teammate first. If Jones wins his first defense he should then have another challenger lined up right away, and that brings me to my second point.
The UFC needs to establish some sort of clear pecking order in the light heavyweight division. Right now they’ve got a ton of high-level fighters, all of whom have a win and/or loss against at least one other top guy. If we discount the DQ loss to Matt Hamill (since Jones was clearly winning that fight anyways) we now have a light heavyweight champion who is essentially undefeated. The division has been highly unstable for a number of years now so I for one would welcome “The Jones Era” at 205 lbs.
The last reason I say hold off on Jones vs. Silva is because the man known as “Bones” is still not nearly as well-known as some of the company’s other champions. His stock has risen so fast that he’s still something of an unknown commodity amongst casual fans. Those of us that follow the sport so closely have obviously kept a well-trained eye on Jones since that star-making performance against Stephan Bonnar at UFC 94. We know that he’s something truly special so it’s fair to want to see him face that upper echelon of talent right away, but what the UFC needs is for Jones to get a few more main events under his belt.
Let’s be clear here: I’m not saying that I never want to see Jones vs. Silva. It’s clear that the fight has plenty of potential and if I was to make a short list of guys that I think could beat Jones, I would undoubtedly put Silva’s name on there. At this point it’s important to consider each man’s place in his career; Silva has dominated his division for a number of years while Jones has just now taken over as the top dog in his weight class. A superfight between the two would be great for Jones’ career if he wins, but thoroughly devastating if he loses.
Right now Jones vs. Evans is the fight that makes the most sense. In the last week the topic of these two teammates fighting one another has far overshadowed the talk of Jones trying to beat “Shogun.” Dana White has long insisted that training partners will have to fight one another if gold is on the line, and this fight is his chance to finally see that mantra put into effect. This fight has several ready-made storylines in place and if the pre-fight talk turns ugly (as it very well could) then I think there’s a strong chance Jones vs. Evans could be one of the biggest fights of the year. After that there are a number of high-profile light heavyweight fights on the horizon, and with that there are plenty of fresh opponents for the newest UFC champion.
Let Anderson Silva defend his belt. Let’s not dismiss Silva vs. St. Pierre just yet. Give Jones a chance to get comfortable at the top, and maybe we can talk about Jones vs. Silva in a year or two.
The biggest difference I see between A. Silva vs. GSP or vs. Superbones is that against GSP he’d only have to fight for a few minutes, while against Superbones he’d have to fight for more like 8 minutes.
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I agree with this primarily due to the point made that Bones has not cleaned out his division yet. Machida had just as an impressive record as Bones going into his first title defense and he was shown to be human. Who’s to say this wont happen with Mr. Jones? Granted Jones is a special athelete and he will continue to improve and be great, but no one knows what the future brings.
I’d love to see this fight happen too, just not yet.
Well-Done.
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I’d love to see the fight, but I don’t think it’s a good idea right now and I don’t think it’ll ever happen…I think people forget how old Anderson is, or the comments he’s made before about retiring, I honestly don’t think he’ll be around much longer…
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I just hope the pedestal every one is putting Jones up on doesn’t fall down or collapse… I think he is still very young in his career and although he is the man of the hour, there is still plenty for him to prove to secure icon or legend status… the guy is a very young give him time to grow into his position in the promotion before everyone rushes to place the weight of the world on his shoulders… He is mature and seems focused but it only take a few bumps in the road to be yesterdays news, so give the guy a chance to clean out this division and see what happens… Although under dogs There are still challengers out there and with SF on board they could unify titles and what not… I hope Jones can carry the UFC deeper into the mainstream but give the guy a chance to solidify his foundation before continuing to build upon him the weight of the future.
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I know some of this guys would be in over there heads BUT Just to name a few guys Along with Rashad, That I would want to see him fight would be- Hendo, Gegard, Rampage, Machida, maybe even Thiago… (in no particular order) then start calling for him to move around to other weight classes. Look at his resume he needs to beat the best whether everyone feels he’s already the best or not… what he fight one former champ so far?? I’m Not taking anything away from the guy he is def the man but he def. needs to be tested over and over again like those that came before him.
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* these guys
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have to agree with boomnutz. Anderson is the greatest p4p but he is friggin 35. Jones is probably far more talented than even Anderson, and at 23, just think, he could dominate for 12 years assuming he channels greater talent into an even more dominant game (just as creative, spectacular, crowd-pleasing muay thai as anderson + usable superior reach + wrestling instead of jj + any weird move straight out of chop socky flicks).
but putting anderson up against jones, I’d be a bit afraid for anderson after seeing his miracle win after the sonnen beatdown. if they do make the match, if they wait too long, silva would be more on the age decline whilst jones would be even better/more experienced. I agree – just let jones get spectacular wins over fellow LHWs with bigger names amongst casual fans – build up the hype as much as possible so jones is a big name (i think casual fans will know him very fast – a well-edited highlight reel could do it very soon). sure he could lose. even silva, fedor, gsp, etc., have all lost. but then he’ll just regain LHW title, the hype will be fantastic, and that would be spectacular to watch.
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There are 100 or more good reasons why it’s too early to be considering this fight. However, are there 2 other fighters fans would rather see facing each other in the octagon? Out of the numerous intruiging matchups available to the UFC, this is the most exciting one IMO by far. Boomnutz … you’re right …. Spider’s not getting any younger and his interest in the sport often appears to be waning. I’m worried that if we hold off on this one, it may never happen or, by the time it does, Silva’s skills and aura will be diminished.
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fight fans wanted to see fedor-couture and they couldn’t make it happen. the UFC probably looks at it like this.
1. superfights in mma do not get anyone a huge ppv payday like in boxing. so there’s no good topline there.
2. stringing along hardcore fans while building the names for some future “big fight” gets more revenue.
3. each ticket needs some kinda headliner (most of them kinda lackluster).
4. the more events, the better and more predictable the revenue, and the more possibility to get better TV deals.
sadly. regarding #1, silva should just pursue his dream match against jones, jr. as soon as he can and get his huge payday. if he challenged jones and lost in spectacular fashion, that would diminish the luster of that possible future boxing payday. from a risk point of view, that makes no sense for him.
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fight fans wanted to see fedor-couture and they couldn’t make it happen. the UFC probably looks at it like this.
1. superfights in mma do not get anyone a huge ppv payday like in boxing. so there’s no good topline there.
2. stringing along hardcore fans while building the names for some future “big fight” gets more revenue.
3. each ticket needs some kinda headliner (most of them kinda lackluster).
4. the more events, the better and more predictable the revenue, and the more possibility to get better TV deals.
sadly. regarding #1, silva should just pursue his dream match against jones, jr. as soon as he can and get his huge payday. if he challenged jon jones first, and lost in spectacular fashion, that would diminish the luster of that possible future boxing payday. from a risk point of view, that makes no sense for him.
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If I was Anderson Silva I wouldn’t take the fight…I think Jones should have to put in more octagon time earning his stripes to have a match with Silva, why should Silva go out as a stepping stone for a guy who really hasn’t cleared out his division…?
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But the argument to that would be that A. Silva has cleaned out 185, he has defeated a former LHW champ who holds a win over Rua, in devastatingly embarrassing fashion at 205 and in most people’s eyes would be the favorite against most of the top 205 guys right now. His dominance in both divisions rank him in my mind a top contender immediately but I also think he would be in serious trouble with Jones. At least from a styles match up, it is a dream fight. Both have crushing, unorthodox standup that has made good guys look really bad. One has awesome wrestling, the other BJJ.
How could you not want this fight now. The it could crush Jones if he lost argument? It better crush him if he lost to Silva! It will tell me more if he comes back from it and goes on to greater things, if not, too bad. That is the game, it isn’t for guys who can’t take it. Everyone said it was too soon and that he wouldn’t handle the pressure of the title fight against Rua and he WAS THE FRIGGIN’ PRESSURE!!!!! War Jones, I want this fight so much more than GSP/Silva. I would prefer GSP to just keep rollin’ as champ at welterweight, he will get challenges, they always do eventually. The style factor alone makes it for me, plus my belief that A. Silva would own the rest of the LHW division and deserves a shot at this HUGE fight to get control of two titles, if they would allow that in the UFC which they totally should. If dude keeps winning unscathed, why not. If he can’t defend, he vacates a title.
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GSP cleared out the division… give or take 1 or 2 possible match ups
Silva cleared out the division… give or take 1 or 2 possible match ups
Jones still has alot of LHW challenges on the table… Just because in fans minds he can beat all comers doesn’t mean he actually can?!?
How can you guys undermind the fact that the above 2 champs have set a precident of what it means to be great in the sport?? Let jones work for it just like they did… he still has a lot to prove.
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It isn’t Jones who needs to earn anything, it is that A. Silva deserves a shot at the LHW title, plain and simple. Why should Jones need to prove himself against the whole division before Silva, Silva has shown he is a top contender in that division. Rashad had the belt and then it switched hands a couple of times, and now Silva should get a shot at that belt, it is his turn to cement his legacy, the current owner of the strap not withstanding. If Rua had won I’d want that fight. It just so happens that I also think Jones has the best stylistic chance of stopping Silva. He didn’t want to fight Lyoto, no longer a problem, another Brazilian, again no longer a problem, thanks to Jones.
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Jones’s muay thai is as or MORE impressive than the spiders? No, not even close. He’s tossed in some crazy good strikes, and did out strike Shogun the other night HOWEVER..Shogun wasnt being Shogun as he was comin off an injury AND was having trouble with the reach of Bones. Bones only holds a 6 inch advantage over Silva and the speed is once again debatable.
Not that Im makin excuses for Shogun, I just think had he not been back to fight after havin a bum knee we might’ve seen a more darting in and out version of Rua and not the plodding lunging for hooks version. He still may have got handled…we’ll never know.
In any case the Spider’s ridiculous striking has led him to 11 of his 13 octagon victories 9 of those by TKO or KO(if you wanna discount the Cote fight that’s still
and he’s finished people with moves that we’ve never seen, not just cracked people with some pretty strikes. jones is the future of the sport for sure..but I want to see this animal evolve before he lands in the Spider’s web.
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that’s still 8…how the fuck did I enter a sunglasses smiley face?
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hmmm
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got it!
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it’s an 8 than a left parenthesis, lol 8(
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Really 8)?
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Somebody got a link to a story about Shogun’s injury? I hadn’t heard about it, but was pretty sure when I watched the fight with Jones that Shogun wasn’t 100%. He was gassed half way through the first round and was flat on his feet from the outset. He was not the same fighter who faced Machida.
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HHMMM8) wait, what?
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Interesting point Yourdevilda(something). I think Rashad has earned his title shot, but after that, the only other potential challenger is Rampage. And that’s only IF he beats Hamil (which I don’t think he will). There may be an argument for Randy if he gets by Machida, but I think A.Silva makes the most sense. If Hamil beats Rampage, give Anderson the title shot. If Rampage wins, then he gets the next title shot. But you’re right, Silva is definitely “in the mix”.
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Everytime Rua loses, “oh he has ring rust, oh the injury layoff, yada yada…” I like the guy but damn! He gassed against Forrest, he gassed against Coleman, he comes in a little doughy although not as much as Ninja but I digress….His conditioning is inconsistent at best. I remember watching the UFC Coleman fight embarrassed after talking Rua up as this monster from Pride. I was surprised after that fight that more wasn’t made of Rua’s conditioning, and the quality of that fight period.
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I don’t disagree with Rashad, in fact I can’t wait to see him get the smugness and cocky attitude elbowed into the recesses of his nasal cavity but Silva should be in the LHW mix, more so than a meaningless(title picture wise) catch weight bout with GSP, even though I would like to see that fight too. I just think it would make more sense because Silva has established himself in that division. Rampage I think needs a few wins before really getting up there again, or more dominant performances against the top. That is what the hype for Jones was about, he was dominant and absolutely devastating, ask the pieces of Brandon Vera’s face still floating in the atmosphere. That is the reason I think Silva jumps over those guys. Rampage lost to Forrest, Silva made him look like a nineteen year old toughman rookie. Rashad won a hard fought but dominant fight over Forrest, and then you look at their fight together, etc etc, mmath whatever. This fight would sell on the highlight footage before the fight alone.
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yourdaddydevil, couldn’t agree more, I kept having to remind myself that Shogun hasn’t impressed me in the UFC yet, even the Machida tko, I honestly thought the initial punch knocked him over more than knocked him down, granted he has the killer instinct and jumped all over him, but his conditioning is awful…if you read articles about him it suggests he doesn’t train hard anyway, I can’t help but wonder how much better he would be if he trained in the states with a legit training camp instead of his own people, especially considering what a difference weight training would do…
try 8 ) together with no other characters attached, like so
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Jones needs to defend his belt against Rashad before any other fight can even be considered. As for whether Jones should fight Silva, that depends on who’s changing weight classes or if it’s a catchweight. If Silva is coming up to 205 to challenge for the belt, the I think he needs to beat at least one of the top 205ers before he has a legitimate claim at a title shot.
Yeah he beat Forrest at 205. 2 years ago. Things have changed a bit since then. If he were to move up and beat Forrest, Thiago Silva, Rampage, or Rashad then yeah he has a claim at a title shot. But I can’t justify giving a guy a title shot at 205 just because he’s cleaned out a different division and has 2 fights at 205 since 2008.
As for Jones moving weight classes. No. One, I really don’t think he can drop down to 185, or even to a catchweight of 195. His frame is simply too big. He’s 6’4 with the longest reach (read: longest limbs) in the UFC. He looked like he was in a completely different weightclass against Shogun in their fight. There’s just no way he’d be able to drop that much more weight and still be as powerful, explosive or impressive. And really, who wants to see Jon Jones handicap himself like that?
Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if Jones eventually makes the jump to HW. The kid’s only 23 years old. I didn’t quit growing until I was 25, and that’s when working out started putting bulk on. If he’s anything like that he’s easily going to put on another 30 pounds of muscle in the next 5 years. Can you imagine a guy with Jones’s speed at HW?
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Dufman, his brothers’ are both like 290 defensive ends…and he already came out and said he’d eventually move up if he kept growing…
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Guys Silva just said he is not interested in fighting at 205 right now… mute point.
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This is about to get alot of thumbs down because im about to argue with everyone on here lol but oh well..
1st. GSP vs Silva makes more sense at this point for 2 reasons, one is that GSP will prolly move up to 185 for good if he beats shields, and his fight wont be a catchweight fight like someone on here said, it will be a full on 185 match. and two. the fight has been being called for for years now..
2nd. this is right saying that Silva jumps rampage, forrest, and rashad becuase forrest beat rampage and silva destroyed forrest makes no sense at all.. silva beat forrest like that because of how there styles matched up. foreest is pretty much a slightly bigger, slower, and more agressive silva, rampage on th other hand would eat a few of silvas shots and just throw bombs and possibly wrestle him. and also, rashad didnt dominate forrest at all.. the first 2 rounds forrest easily won with forrest picking him apart, 3rd round was back and forth til forrest got stupid and tried letting rashad wear himself out by taking his punches.. and got KO’d lol.
3rd. Silva has beat 2 people at LHW. and only one of them was a top tier fighter. he needs at least 1 more win over a legit top 5 guy before id say he gets a shot, just because rashad has earned his, if rampage wins hes also on a 3 fight win streak over mostly top guys.. and like before said, jones also needs some time to set himself as the very top of the division. Give Hendo his rematch with Silva, if silva wins again then possibly have him fight jones
4th. i think rua gassed because of how hurt he got, he got hurt bad early on and never recovered fully, he was a bit hesitant on his feet cuz he had no idea how to deal with the reach and he knew jones could throw some crazy shit at him at any moment. i honestly thought shogun was a bit overrated since coming to the UFC..
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It all depends on who says what and when. GSP said he didn’t think he could put on that much weight for quite awhile and wasn’t sure if he wanted to. Then Silva’s people said they would fight at a catchweight for him, and that Silva didn’t want to fight at 205 anymore(I bet!!!). They all say different things and the time in between has too many variables that can pop up due to injury, contracts, etc. Medicine and plastic surgery has to catch up with MMA so these guys can fight more often. Imagine it’s all Star Trek, they just go to the back, get a beam passed over them and good as new!!! Oh to dream….
I just want that fight because of the styles and who Silva is earns him alot in my book, not just his fights at 205. I am confident enough in his ability at 205 to give him a shot, I mean if Vitor got a shot at 185…
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haha well you have a point.. But GSP could take the time to gain the weight properly while Silva is getting ready for the okami fight, then after that “assuming he wins” that would have been enough time for GSP to add the weight. haha and i for one didnt think vitor deserved his shot.
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…”Shogun wasnt being Shogun”…
Statements like that are such shit Dave. When is the old Crocop going to come back…..Shogun wasn’t being Shogun…..Which Chuck Lidell will show up tonight…….Will this be the Dream or the Nightmare….
Blah!!!
Sho gun has only looked decent in one of his UFC fights and that was against Machida….otherwise he hasn’t been doing so well, IMO.
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I wonder if Okami will get his shot pulled again!!!!
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I guarantee neither super fight happens…
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Now is the time for the winner of GSP vs Shields vs A. Silva.
Now is the time for Jones to face Rampage, Rashad, Machida, Nog and if possible Mousasi, Mo, Cavalcante and Hendo.
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Well Guthook’d….he looked awesome in BOTH fights with Machida, and if you disagree you’re just doing so to be disagreeable. He is still to this day the only person to knock down Machida, and one of two men to take a round from the guy…no small feat. The Coleman fight I’ll concede he looked like absolute shit. The Forrest fight just showed that if you put it on Shogun(just like Jones did) he’s not one to deal well with it. and how could you not be impressed with his domination of Liddell? Not only did he take all of two punches in that fight, but he wasnt perturbed by them, transitioned from takedown to sub attempts flawlessly and KO’d him with his non dominant hand.
He’s only fought six times in the UFC and let’s see how he bounces back from this one.
Just because the guy was dominated by the possible future of the sport doesnt make the guy done by any means. Maybe he should drop to 185 as most of the pride guys never really cut weight and even being slightly soft he has been competitive at 205…but we’ll see.
As for the “old cro cop” he’s too old to be the old cro cop and Gonzaga broke him forever.
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The UFC can make more money on these Champs beating the competition time and time again on PPV then beating each other up for a one off super fight…
A super fight could knock one or more of these fighter stock values down if they get destroyed… I guarantee between the merger with SF talent eventually happening and the fact that each guy still has some competition in there division these super fights wont happen.
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this is off topic but Im curious as to when the next rankings update on here will be??
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One of these superfights needs to happen, it could be the fight that launches the UFC to the next level popularity wise. I think a lot of casual fans are a bit confused by weight classes, they just want to know who the best is, and a fight between Silva and GSP or Silva v Jones would sell that to them. I just think not only in the short term financially, but in the big picture of the UFC wanting to become a mainstream sport, one of these fights could help push them up into mainstream legitimacy and popularity.
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