Jon Jones first public comments since DWI arrest; clarifies why Anderson Silva fight won't happen

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been a bit of a recluse with the media since his DWI arrest after crashing his Bentley into a telephone pole this past May.

That is, until now.

With "Bones'" next title defense looming against Dan Henderson at UFC 151, it's time to start making the rounds with the media and he sat down with Fox 11's James Koh earlier today to talk everything from Greg Jackson to his comments about Anderson Silva and even briefly touching upon his DWI arrest and how it's changed him as a person.

Here's what the 24-year old had to say when asked about what he's learned in the past few months:

"You live and you learn from mistakes that you make and hopefully I can use some of my downfalls to make myself better, make people around me better and show that you can come back from anything. I've learned a lot about myself, I've learned a lot about the seriousness of everything. I've learned a lot. I've grown as a man."

Jones also was asked to clarify some of his recent comments he'd made about never wanting to fight UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and whether that would tarnish his legacy.

According to "Bones," he's just too big of a fan of Anderson Silva to want to fight him.

"Fighting your idol is not a thrill for me. I don't want to beat Anderson Silva. I don't want to lose to Anderson Silva. It's a lose-lose situation in my opinion."

Other UFC competitors like Chris Leben (versus Wanderlei Silva) and Brendan Schaub (versus Mirko Filipovic) have stepped up and not only faced their idols but knocked them out cold inside the Octagon, but Jones simply doesn't think like that.

What do you think?

Should the fans respect Jones' wishes? Or is he just trying to protect himself here?