Anderson Silva Vs. Roy Jones Jr? UFC ‘doesn’t do the old guy stuff’

Despite the massive amount of money just made by Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr., UFC president Dana White refuses to get in on the old man ‘legends’ league.

Whether you enjoyed Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. and all the hoopla surrounding it or not, you’ll have to get used to seeing more of it around. Reports have the PPV event making stacks of cash. And even before Tyson proved he’s still a major box office draw, there were plans to parlay this exhibition bout into a regular series of events dubbed Mike Tyson’s Legends League.

After their bout was declared a draw, Tyson said he’d fight again soon, and Roy Jones Jr. would be on the undercard. One obvious opponent for Jones Jr. is former UFC champ Anderson Silva, who was recently released from the promotion. For years Silva and Jones Jr. tried to make a boxing bout happen within the confines of “The Spider’s” UFC contract, but it never came together. Now the only thing potentially stopping the fight is the perception that Silva is completely and thoroughly shot as a competitor.

Dana White certainly pushed that opinion following Silva’s last defeat to Uriah Hall over Halloween weekend. And he was similarly dismissive when a reporter asked him if he’d be interested in co-promoting a boxing bout between Jones Jr. and Silva.

“To my core, I am a fight fan,” White said. “And I truly believe that the fight business is for young guys. It’s not for old guys. I get that there’s still some name value out there and you can go out and you can make some money. But when you’re a fight fan I want to see the best in the world, the best up and coming kids, the best in the world. I want to see these guys fight and I want to see who is the baddest motherf**ker in the world in every division. As a fight fan that’s who I am and that kind of stuff doesn’t interest me.”

“Anderson Silva had his day,” he continued. “Roy Jones Jr. had his day. Today is not their day. It’s just not. These young guys that you saw fight tonight are the future. These are the up and coming, and this is what I’m interested in. This is what I love to do. I could sit here all f**king night and watch kids that fought tonight fight, that’s what I love to do. That’s just not really what I do. There’s other people out there that do that, plenty of people that do the old guy stuff. I don’t do the old guy stuff.”