UFC QUOTABLES: Confident Jon Jones thinks he'd have an advantage in a fight with Anderson Silva

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

"I'm confident because I study, study, study and, yes, I have some physical attributes that maybe give me an advantage. The long arms are something I was born with. But the way I pull off moves, the timing of the way I do my moves, it's all because of my passion and love for this sport. I'm confident because I work hard. I'm a warrior. But cockiness is not where I'm at. Financially, I'm not the most successful fighter. As far as stats, I haven't broken any records. As far as Hall of Fame, I'm not there. As far as being a champion, I'm not there. I have no reason to be cocky. I just love who I am, I love what I've earned and I love this sport... I've bathed myself in Anderson Silva. I think I'd have an advantage going into a fight with him because I've studied him so much. I've patterned my career after Anderson. You can't really say you know Anderson Silva, because, like me, he can pull off pretty much anything he wants to pull off, whatever he trained for that specific fight. So, you can't know Anderson Silva, but you can understand who he is and how he thinks and how he operates."

-Jon Jones talks to Kevin Iole at Yahoo.com about the misconception of him as cocky and his thoughts on a potential future matchup with Anderson Silva.

Penick's Analysis: Jones certainly has some physical attributes and has continued developing his skills, and he could provide a challenge for "The Spider." But it's far too early to say he can pull it off at this point. Still, he's a tremendous fighter and one of the best prospects to come along in some time. His fight with Ryan Bader is going to say a lot about where he's at both as a fighter and as a viable challenger to the light heavyweight crown. But come this time next year, we might be looking at a scenario where Jones and Silva could match up, and it would definitely be one hell of a fight to see.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_7110.shtml

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