MMA Worldwide

Thiago Silva and Jon Jones Don't Like Each Other One Bit

Posted by Brett Atchley on the 13 January 2011 | View Comments

When Thiago Silva decided to showboat a little by playing the bongos on Brandon Vera's back during their UFC 125 bout, UFC light heavyweight contender Jon Jones took to Twitter to voice his disapproval.

"Wow that slapping was so disrespectful.. id love to give him a slap in the face," Jones wrote.

During an interview with MMAFighting.com, "Bones" explained his reaction to Silva's grandstanding.

"It kind of bugged me, only because we all fight, and just losing alone is humiliating enough. It's embarrassing. ... Think about all the people who watched those fights. All [the Brandon Vera] fans, all the members at his school, all the kids that look up to him. Man, it just kind of rubbed me the wrong way," he explained. "It's not something I would ever want done to me and it's not something I would ever do to someone else. ... There's ways of looking for an opening besides playing pattycake on a guy's back."

In a recent Q&A with Tatame, Silva attempted to explain why he pulled the seemingly disrespectful stunt.

"We never do anything without a reason. What I did in there was to take his focus away. The only provocation I did was when I slapped him on his back, the others I did because my hands were aching when I punched him because I broke my finger. So it would open me the way to try a submission or something like it. The only provocation was that one so he would lose his focus, and there’s no other reason."

As far as Jones' appraisal of Thiago's behavior and the Team Jackson standout's remark that he wanted to slap his American Top Team trained counterpart in the face, Silva sloughed off the idle threat.

"This guy is a jerk. Everybody’s a professional fighter and all fights include provocations. Brandon Vera said he’s break my legs, that I wasn’t on his level. I don’t say things, I do. You get recognized when you do things. I’m a professional fighter, but I can’t always please everybody. There’s always somebody behind the computer with a plate filled with French fries, ready to criticize you. I fight for the fans, for the money and to put my name up there. Talking is too much easy, nobody knows what goes on in your life, your trainings… I think I did my job. Who likes it, likes it, but you can dislike it if you want."

Unfortunately for the UFC, Silva is fighting Quinton "Rampage" Jackson next at UFC 130 while Jones is set to face Ryan Bader at UFC 126 and by the time the duo is free to face each other, the pre-fabbed feud will have long since fizzled.

That's not to say that the fight won't happen, though. 

Many fans and pundits feel that the winner of Jones and Bader will be in line for a title fight, but considering Bader is the first legit challenge Jones will have faced, should he beat "Darth," he'll likely still have to get past another contender before getting a shot at the belt.

It's more likely that the winner of the UFC 130 bout between Randy Couture and Lyoto Machida will get a shot at the winner of Rashad Evans and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.