Jon Jones fought an incredibly heavy opposition during his legendary career.
While 'Bones' has defeated the will of Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson, there is a world where he could have share the Octagon with another hunter who is firm in the conversation to be the greatest of all time.
To this day, although 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 the age of 16 -.
The former middleweight champion is in second place on the list of most consecutive title defenses with 'The Spider' that rules no less than 2457 days.
Although Silva ventured from time to time on a slightly heavyweight, where he fought, such as Forrest Griffin, Stephan Bonnar and Cormier, his path did not cross Jones apart from one secret training session.
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Chael Sonnen reveals a part of what Anderson Silva told him about secret training session with Jon Jones
In a recent interview with Bloody Elbow, Chael Sonen spoke about the differences between Jones and Anderson Silva.
'The Bad Guy' fought both men during his career that Silva had twice challenged the middleweight title before he went to the light of heavyweight to fight Jones at UFC 159.
“There was a day, and you may know this story, that the two went on and it was just a training,” Sonen recalled. “They were both in the city. They are both at the same time in Vegas and the UFC had a private sports school down. That is where Dana [White] would practice, or Lorenzo [Fertitta] would get his exercise. So they opened the private sports school, they used Anderson and Jon together in the ring. '
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Sonnen further said that what exactly happened in that room was never spoken in detail by the only four men who were there to witness it.
“If there is a video, it never turned up and the only people who were there, Dana and Lorenzo, Anderson and Jon. Nobody ever spoke about it. But I asked Anderson Privé Privé. I said, man, you have to tell me what happened that day?” He told me a bit and he swore to confidentiality, but he says he will ever reveal what really happened. ”
While Silva chooses to tell the story on his own conditions, Sonnen was able to reveal what the former middleweight made champion of the experience, amidst rumors that he came out better than Jones did.
“He told me that Jon Jones was the next level. He gave him that compliment, and many people who had seen it, the word that came out a bit that Anderson got him better, and maybe Jon allowed him to do that. Maybe Jon respected him because of the era. So we had no details about it, but Anderson had another higher level of manufacture and I thought it was another higher level of the muscle '
Chael Sonnen reveals that another former opponent of both Jones and Anderson Silva believed that 'The Spider' was better
Chael Sonnen is one of the few hunters who have been in the cage with more than one athlete that can be considered the greatest of all time.
After saying goodbye to the UFC, 'The Bad Guy' even added another legendary name to his CV when he was confronted with Bellator 208 in 2018 opposite Fedor Emelianenko.
Sonnen told Bloody Elbow that although he finds it difficult to separate Jones and Silva, another man who fought against both champions did not have the same problem.
“I thought they were very different. The deceased Stephan Bonnar fought against Jones, and he fought Anderson and Bonner and I ate and Stephan shared for me how much better he thought Anderson was, that he just thought Anderson was a different feeling and just an overall better hunter. But they are very different.”