Jon Jones on Anderson Silva: ‘We are at completely different levels’

During yesterday’s pre-UFC 165 conference call, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones (18-1 MMA, 12-1 UFC) was asked a variety of different questions, most surrounding his September 21st opponenet Alexander Gustafsson (14-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC).

Eventually, the questions veered away from “Bones” UFC 165 title fight and towards former UFC middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva and his jaw-dropping loss to Chris Weidman at UFC 162.

Here is what Jones had to say on the topic:

“I absolutely know that I am not unbeatable. There is no one that is unbeatable. I don’t compare myself to Anderson Silva and the fight that he lost, it has nothing to do with me.”

Jones continued by stating how he and Silva are at completely different points in their respective MMA careers:

“Silva has been in the game for a long time and maybe he’s at the end of his career, but I just turned 26 years-old — [have] no injuries — I am at the very beginning of my career. We are at completely different stages as far as drive and motivation.”

Not wanting to call “The Spider’s” drive and determination into question, Jones was quick to clarify what he really meant, to eliminate possible misinterpretation:

“I can’t say drive or motivation, but we are at completely different levels in where we are at. He’s been doing this for so long and I am just getting started.”

Hard to argue with that, as Jones is 12 years younger than the 38-year-old Silva.

Jon Jones will put his UFC light heavyweight title on the line against Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson on Saturday, September 21 live from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.