Jon Jones has fought some incredibly tough opposition during his legendary career.
While ‘Bones’ has beaten the likes of Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson, there is a world where he could’ve shared the Octagon with another fighter who is firmly in the conversation to be the greatest of all time.
To this day, though Islam Makhachev could match him if he wins his next fight, Anderson Silva holds the UFC record for the longest win streak in the history of the promotion at 16.
The former middleweight champion is second on the list of most consecutive title defenses with ‘The Spider’ reigning for a staggering 2457 days.
Though Silva did venture up to light heavyweight from time to time, where he fought the likes of Forrest Griffin, Stephan Bonnar and Cormier, his path didn’t cross with Jones aside from one secret training session.
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Chael Sonnen reveals part of what Anderson Silva told him about secret training session with Jon Jones
In a recent interview with Bloody Elbow, Chael Sonnen spoke about the differences between Jon Jones and Anderson Silva.
‘The Bad Guy’ fought both men during his career having challenged Silva for the middleweight title on two occasions before moving up to light heavyweight to fight Jones at UFC 159.
“There was a day, and you might know this story, that those two went at it and it was just a workout,” Sonnen recalled. “They were both in town. They’re both in Vegas at the same time, and the UFC had a private gym down below. That’s where Dana [White] would exercise, or Lorenzo [Fertitta] would go get his exercise. So they opened up the private gym, they put Anderson in and Jon in the ring together.”
Sonnen went on to say that what exactly happened in that room has never been spoken about in detail by the only four men who were there to witness it.
“If there’s a video, it’s never surfaced and the only people that were there, Dana and Lorenzo, Anderson and Jon. Nobody’s ever spoke about that. But I asked Anderson privately. I said, ‘Man, you gotta tell me what happened that day?’ He told me a little and he did swear me to secrecy, but, but he does say that someday he will reveal what actually happened.”
While Silva chooses to tell the story on his own terms, Sonnen was able to reveal what the former middleweight champion made of the experience, amid rumors that he came out better than Jones did.
“He did tell me that Jon Jones was next level. He gave him that compliment, and a lot of people that had seen it, the word kind of came out that Anderson got the better of him, and maybe that Jon allowed him to do that. Maybe Jon respected him because of the age. So we don’t quite have details on it, but Anderson did tell me when he felt Jon, he could tell that was another higher level of fighter and I think that’s pretty big praise from ‘The Spider’.”
Chael Sonnen reveals that another former opponent of both Jon Jones and Anderson Silva believed that ‘The Spider’ was better
Chael Sonnen is one of the few fighters who has been in the cage with more than one athlete who could be considered to be the greatest of all time.
After parting ways with the UFC, ‘The Bad Guy’ even added another legendary name to his resume when he faced Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 208 in 2018.
Sonnen told Bloody Elbow that while he finds it difficult to separate Jones and Silva, another man that fought both champions didn’t have that same issue.
“I found them to be very different. The late Stephan Bonnar fought Jones, and he fought Anderson and Bonner and I had dinner and Stephan was sharing for me how much better he thought Anderson was, that he just thought Anderson was a different feel and just an overall better fighter. But, they are very different.”