Fresh off his dominant finish over Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, Jon Jones expressed his respect for Anderson Silva’s record for the most title fight finishes in UFC history. For a fighter who has often been in the “GOAT” conversation, equaling Silva’s record would be another feather in his already illustrious cap and the UFC heavyweight champion acknowledged as much.
The 37-year-old posted a picture from way back when with Silva on Twitter and claimed that he used to idolize the former middleweight champ as a young man and to have tied with him for most finishes in title fights was surreal.
“I grew up watching his greatness, dreaming of one day achieving even a fraction of what he’s done. To now share this honor with someone I’ve admired so deeply is beyond words. Respect and gratitude always to my personal GOAT. ”
From idolizing Anderson Silva as a young man to now being tied with him for the most finishes in title fights—it’s surreal. I grew up watching his greatness, dreaming of one day achieving even a fraction of what he’s done. To now share this honor with someone I’ve admired so… pic.twitter.com/3TcT4Wxl4j
— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) November 23, 2024
As exciting as this is, unfortunately, Jones hasn’t actually tied with Silva’s record 9 title fight finishes. His KO win over Daniel Cormier was overturned after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. But he has the unique opportunity to do so if he accepts interim champion Tom Aspinall’s title unification challenge.
Jon Anik predicts UFC will agree to Jones’ demands
While Jones hinted at retirement before the fight, he’s now open to one more bout—if the price is right. The likely opponent?
That much was already decided for him when UFC president Dana White claimed that if he wanted to fight again, it would have to be against Aspinall.
And Jones has now made it clear he’s looking for “f*** you money” to step back into the octagon, something that would make a win or less irrelevant for him. When asked about it at the post-UFC 309 presser, White claimed that Jones’ purse has never been a problem.
And now, UFC commentator Jon Anik has voiced his support for the same.
On ‘The Anik & Florian Podcast’, Anik said Jones was totally worth the massive payday and predicted that the UFC would meet his demands.
He also pointed out that legends like Jones and Georges St-Pierre are often held to different standards, making a potential Jones vs. Aspinall matchup in 2025 even more intriguing for fans.
This is again, in line with what White said during the aforementioned presser- the heavyweight title unification fight, courtesy of all the tension built around it could make it the biggest heavyweight title fight in UFC history!
