Anderson Silva talks sparring session with Jon Jones: He taught me a few things I didn’t know, I gave him a few tips.

Last month, the UFC headquarters in Las Vegas played host to the first ever sparring session between light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva.

UFC President Dana White posted a photo of the proceedings on his Instagram account and immediately got a significant response from the MMA fan base that was jealous of the "super fight" that will likely never take place.

Silva, however, saw it as a simple sparring session where he was able to learn some new tricks from one of his friends.

"I have a good relationship with him, we're friends for a long time, since he started his career, but we never had the chance to train together before," Silva said during a press conference in Rio de Janeiro last month (via MMAFighting.com). "We were both in Las Vegas and it happened.

"It was a normal training, he did a few things, and I did a few things. It was a tough training for both of us. We learned a lot. He taught me a few things I didn't know, I gave him a few tips. I like him a lot, and it was cool."

Jones is one of the few champions in the UFC's storied history who has an opportunity to close in on Silva's all-time win record. "Bones" is currently on an 11-fight win streak, one that includes victories over former champions Mauricio Rua, Rampage Jackson, Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida, and is just five wins away from tying Silva's record.

The former champion is aware of this and believes Jones has all the potential to become the greatest fighter from the United States.

"He has his history, he's building (his career)," Silva said. "He's young and has everything to become the biggest name of the sport in his country."

Jones is scheduled to defend his 205-pound title against Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 on Jan. 3rd. Silva will return to the  octagon three weeks later to face Nick Diaz in the main event of UFC 183.

Transcription taken from MMAFighting.com.