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Anderson Silva rules out Jon Jones fight - permanently

Anderson Silva wants to keep hold of his middleweight belt © Getty Images

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UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva said he will not move up to fight light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones, quashing all hopes of a possible mega-bout.

Silva made his reasons known Thursday during a media call to promote his upcoming 205lb bout against Stephan Bonnar at UFC 153 on October 13 in Rio de Janeiro.

"There's always been a lot of talk about me moving up to 205," said Silva, who has successfully defended his title a UFC-record 10 times. "I know [UFC president] Dana White has talked about it and all the fans have talked about me moving up and facing Jon Jones.

"But it's something I've never wanted. I won't be pretentious and say that I'd want to move up, especially because there are other guys in the weight class and on our team like Rafael Feijao [Cavalcante] and [Antonio Rogerio] Minotoro Nogueira, guys who could potentially face Jon Jones in the future.

"What got me this far is that I'm grounded; my weight class is 185 and I'm 37 years old. I feel I need to be honest and continue to build what I've built and that is to keep defending my belt at 185."

Silva previously stated his respect for Jones is the reason he would not move up a weight class to fight him. That explanation, however, gave hope to mixed martial arts fans that a bout with Jones remained possible.

Hopes of a Silva-Jones bout were heightened in recent months by talk of another high profile fight between Silva and welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. Each fighter has expressed a desire to fight one another.

That fight could happen next year if St-Pierre defeats interim 170lb titleholder Carlos Condit at UFC 154 on November 17 in Montreal.

This article first appeared on ESPN.com

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