UFC
Dana White believes Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones will happen, despite Silva's insistence it won't
Oct 14, 2012 - 1:45:07 PM Dana White believes Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones will happen, despite Silva's insistence it won't

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Following another classic performance at UFC 153, UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva said he would not be hanging around the light heavyweight division, and reiterated that he won't be fighting UFC Light Heavyweight Champ Jon Jones in a super fight.

The conversation persisted at the post fight press conference, but Silva remained steadfast, shaking his head as UFC President Dana White continued stating that he'd get the fight to happen.

"I know my man says 'No, no, no,'" White said. "But the amount of money that would be offered for that fight, I guarantee you I will make Anderson Silva say, 'Yes, yes, yes.'"

White expanded on the topic earlier in the night on Fuel TV, discussing the superfights Silva may have on tap. There's still a potential Georges St-Pierre fight ahead of him, but White thinks the Jones fight will indeed happen.

"How many guys in the UFC have said a fight won't happen?" White asked. "And then it does. Anderson has broken every record in the UFC. He's 37 and Bonnar is 35. He's younger. Bonnar is bigger than him. He came to win this fight. Anderson loves the challenge. I think he will take the fight with Jon. Not to mention the fact that the money would be hard for either of them to turn it down."

"There's no doubt who's the number-one fighter of all time. Then you can argue over who is number two and three. This would clean up the debate of who's the best fighter in the world. It'll be about who's the greatest. But you've got to understand, timing is everything. We have shows to run. We can't sit around and wait. If you think I don't want to see both these fights happen, you're crazy. I do."

Penick's Analysis: Though the fight on everyone's tongue is the Jon Jones bout right now, I still think, from a timing standpoint, Silva-GSP may happen first. Right now, it's quite possible that Silva fights twice in 2013, and if those fights are against GSP and Jon Jones it could be one of the biggest business years the UFC has ever had. With that said, he's remained adamant that he's not fighting Jones, and though White is talking about how much money both fighters will be offered to take the fight, he needs to really be careful about driving that point. If he remains so insistent that he'll make it happen, and then it doesn't, that's the type of broken promise regarding fights that really can cause backlash from some fans. It could turn into the UFC's own Mayweather-Pacquiao situation, and it doesn't need to be like that if the two don't want to fight.