• UFC 159

Dana: Anderson called and asked for a super-fight

Jon Jones was far too good for Chael Sonnen © Getty Images

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UFC president Dana White claimed Anderson Silva called him during UFC 159 to ask for his next opponent after Chris Weidman, hinting very strongly that the Brazilian asked for Jon Jones.

Light-heavyweight king Jones put on another masterclass in New Jersey, stopping Chael Sonnen via TKO inside a round. He completed the win with a nastily broken toe.

Silva, the middleweight champion, has twice beaten Sonnen himself and remains the only fighter above Jones in the pound-for-pound list. The need for a super-fight between the pair grows with every passing fight.

Sonnen raised the issue of the pair meeting in the post-fight press conference, saying: "People are out there talking about Anderson and Jon, these guys should be calling Dana right now begging to fight each other. And it's not going to go that way.

"You know you got these two guys and they're great, but they're a couple of chickens. They should be calling each other out. They should grab the mic and say, 'I want to fight that guy. I don't want the debate, I want to get this figured out. Dana, give me a date, give me a time.' And it won't happen that way.

"Dana's going to have to call these guys and then they're going to have to dangle a carrot, then they're going to have to negotiate. We're in the fight business. If you don't want to fight, don't raise your hand."

White quickly responded by saying: "That actually did happen tonight. Anderson called and he wants a fight tonight, so. It did happen. Anderson called tonight and I'm not going to tell you which one it is but I'm going to get to work on it as soon as possible."

The president was immediately asked, "Was it GSP or Jones?", to which he replied: "Yes".

Certainly Sonnen is in little doubt who would win if Silva and Jones were to meet. "I whipped Anderson for 30 minutes, he whipped me for 30 secs," the American said. "I whipped Jon for zero secs and he whipped me the whole time. Jones is a lot better than I thought he is. He's the best fighter I've ever fought."

Silva first has to deal with Chris Weidman at UFC 162, a non-too-easy task in itself. Sonnen, meanwhile, is yet to decide what his future holds.

"I'm not a guy who is going to hang around if there is nothing for me," he said. "[But] I'm by no means saying that [retirement] happened tonight."

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