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“At the time Anderson Silva had such a mystique and an aura about him that was actually greater than Jon Jones.”
Was a prime Anderson Silva more intimidating than Jon Jones?
Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, who beat Silva in back-to-back fights at UFC 162 and UFC 168, certainly seems to think so, stating in a recent interview with MMA Junkie that ‘The Spider’s’ aura of invincibility is still unrivaled to this day.
Weidman made those comments ahead of his upcoming light heavyweight debut at UFC on ESPN 6, where a win over Dominick Reyes could catapult him into title contention — meaning a possible showdown with Jones.
“At the time Anderson Silva had such a mystique and an aura about him that was actually greater than Jon Jones,” Weidman said at Wednesday’s UFC Boston media day. “He was dominating everybody, putting his hands down, playing with them. Jon Jones isn’t doing that. He had two tough fights in his last two outings against guys who were middleweights. Two tough guys, but he didn’t look unbeatable in those fights. Anderson Silva, he had the invincibility feel to him when I fought him.”
Weidman went on to state that his decision to move up to light heavyweight was fuelled by the desire to beat none one but two of the greatest fighters in MMA history.
“As far as skillset, it’s a very interesting puzzle. I think (Jones is) more of an interesting puzzle as far as skillset, but maybe not as much of a puzzle when it comes to mindset and keeping mental focus and not letting the moment get to you and all that.
“One of the reasons I’m definitely excited to go (to light heavyweight) is there’s a guy there who people think can’t be beat and who people consider to be one of the greatest of all time, if not the greatest of all time,” Weidman added. “That’s what really excited me at middleweight. So to have the opportunity to not just shock the world once, but also twice in my career, and beat two of the guys that people think are the GOATs, that’s the sort of legacy I think I would want to leave behind.”
UFC on ESPN 6: Weidman vs. Reyes takes place this Friday, Oct. 18 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
