Chris Weidman knows a thing or two about defeating legendary fighters. But, while he hopes to hand Jon Jones a loss, the former champ doesn’t believe it will resonate the same way his jaw-dropping victories over Anderson Silva did.

Weidman ends Silva’s storied reign

Weidman became a household name in combat sports back in 2013, by taking out Silva at UFC 162. At the time, Silva was riding a 17 fight winning streak and he had defended the UFC’s 185 crown 10 times (which was the record at that time). Due to that run, and Silva’s awe-inspiring striking and highlight reel finishes, he was widely considered to be one of the greatest fighters on the planet, if not the greatest.

But, as you likely know, Weidman bombed out Silva as he did some taunting in their first bout. In the rematch later that year, Silva broke his leg when Weidman checked a kick.

Weidman’s take on Jones’ status versus Silva’s

Well, as Weidman gets set to face Dominick Reyes this Friday at UFC Boston, he’s made it clear he wants to secure a title fight with Jones. While speaking with the media recently, Weidman had this to say, while talking about the differences between Jones and Silva (quotes via MMA Junkie):

“At the time Anderson Silva had such a mystique and an aura about him that was actually greater than Jon Jones,” Weidman said. “He was dominating everybody, putting his hands down, playing with them. Jon Jones isn’t doing that. He had two tough fights in his last two outings against guys who were middleweights. Two tough guys, but he didn’t look unbeatable in those fights. Anderson Silva, he had the invincibility feel to him when I fought him.

“As far as skillset, it’s a very interesting puzzle. I think (Jones is) more of an interesting puzzle as far as skillset, but maybe not as much of a puzzle when it comes to mindset and keeping mental focus and not letting the moment get to you and all that.”

Even the biggest Jones’ supporters would likely agree with Weidman here. While Jones presents additional challenges Silva doesn’t, via his wrestling and top game, few can argue that Silva’s thrill factor was higher during his prime. Of course, in the end, that entertaining style led to his downfall.

It’s also true that Jones is coming off a tightly contested, split decision win over Thiago Santos in his last outing, and that he hasn’t recorded as many highlight reel finishes as “The Spider”.

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