Jon Jones: Fighting Anderson Silva is a 'lose-lose' situation and interferes with my 'personal greatness'

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones has no interest in fighting the promotion's current Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva, in a UFC "superfight," despite (almost) cleaning out the 205-pound division.

But you knew that already.

"Bones" shouldn't take full responsibility for declining what could be the biggest mixed martial arts (MMA) fight of all time, as "The Spider," who dabbled in the higher weight class on two prior occasions, is perfectly content right where he is, the king of the 185-pound mountain.

UFC President Dana White remains optimistic.

After the jump, Jones makes an appearance on ESPN LA AM 710 with Max & Marcellus to explain why fighting Silva is a "lose-lose" proposition and could interfere with his quest for "personal greatness."

Check it out:

"It's not that he won't fight me or I won't fight him. To be dead honest, it's that we both have a lot to lose and we both respect each other a lot and we both are striving for personal greatness. I don't want to crack on his greatness and I don't want him cracking on my greatness. We're in completely different weight classes. We both have sponsor deals and things that are really important to us and a big part of that sponsorship package is winning [and] being a champion. Having us fight each other means one of our championships goes away. I respect Anderson Silva so much that I don't want to be the guy to beat him. I don't want to lose to him either. It's a lose-lose situation for me."

While Jones has enjoyed a dominant run as of late, he must still get past "Dangerous" Dan Henderson at the UFC 151 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Sept. 1, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. A win over "Hendo" further raises his stock, but the UFC is still grooming potential title contenders like Alexander Gustafsson and Glover Teixeira.

Silva, meanwhile, recently dispatched Chael Sonnen (again) at the UFC 148 event earlier this month and could be expected to face the winner of Mark Munoz vs. Chris Weidman, who compete at UFC on FUEL TV 4 tonight (July 11) while Michael Bisping, Brian Stann and Hector Lombard all wait in the wings.

And the Brazilian isn't getting any younger.

Well fight fans, how about it? You've heard Jones' reasoning for turning down a potential "Spider" fight. Are they satisfactory? And who's holding out hope that White can use his checkbook to make this bout happen?

Let's hear it.