Anderson Silva explains hug to Jon Jones after victory: 'I need to help my friend'

A. Silva (photo) spoke about his relationship with Jones and hugging his friend during the press conference. Photo: ReproductionUFC

If in the past many speculated about a possible fight between Anderson Silva e Jon Jones, this hypothesis seems impossible now. In recent times, the two fighters have become great friends and have even trained together recently. The relationship between them has been going so well that the North American was the first person Spider looked for to give a hug after the victory over Nick Diaz at UFC 183, after jumping over the cage of the Octagon. At the press conference after the event, Anderson explained the gesture and said that he has been helping Jones, who was recently involved in a major controversy after being found to be using cocaine in a surprise doping test.

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“That's it: he's my friend and I need to help my friend,” said the former middleweight champion. “Jones is my friend. So I talk to him all the time. He is young. Many people say: 'Ah, the Jon Jones That's it... The Jon Jones is that'. But everyone has problems. I have problems, everyone here does too. And a big problem in the world is that people like to talk too much. 'Ah, this guy is bad… Blah, blah, blah…'. But it's not like that. I think this is the next level for Jones, something very important (for him to overcome). When I talk to Jones, I say, 'Man, I like you, you need to change. Because all the kids watch you, all the fans… Stop. You are very young and the best fighter now. So, you need to change everything,'” he said.

At 39, Anderson Silva has a professional record of 34 wins and six losses. With the triumph over Nick Diaz, at UFC 183, Anderson had his arm raised again after a fight after almost two years – his last victory had been in October 2012, over Stephan bonnar. Already Jon Jones, 27 years old, has a record of 21 wins and one loss. Current first place in the weight-for-pound rankings of Ultimate, Jones is coming off a victory over Daniel Cormier and he already knows who his next challenger will be: the North American Anthony Johnson, in a duel that will probably take place at UFC 187, in May.