Jones Jr. Offers To Fight Silva in UFC, Dana White Declines
Anderson Silva
Professional boxer Roy Jones Jr., in the latest attempt to organize a fight with UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, has offered to fight “The Spider” in the UFC octagon instead of the boxing ring, but UFC President Dana White has nixed the contest.
“You won’t see a Silva versus Jones fight while Silva is under contract with me,” White told CBS Sports on Tuesday. “I don’t want to say anything bad about Roy Jones, I like Roy Jones and was a fan of his, but he mattered like fifteen years ago. He’s not anywhere near the best boxer in the world. He must’ve spent all his money.”
“I could do it, make it huge, make money, but I could have done a fight like this when we were bleeding money [in the early 2000s],” White continued. “The fight would make some money, but it hurts MMA in the long term. We don’t do that because we love the sport. That’s a Pride or K-1 matchup. It’s not what we do.”
Rumors of a Jones Jr.-Silva bout date back to March 2008, when it was rumored that the two would square off later in the year under boxing rules. Days later it was confirmed that Silva and Jones Jr. would not be squaring off but rumors and reports have surfaced over the last year indicating the pair still intended to work on making the match happen.
Jones Jr. was last in action in March, defeating Omar Sheika via fifth-round TKO on the boxing-MMA hybrid March Badness card, while Silva scored a unanimous decision over Thales Leites last month and will return to the octagon in August for a matchup with Forrest Griffin.
Tags: Anderson Silva, Roy Jones Jr.
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ZOMG is DANA SKARRED OF A BOXX3R????
I don’t understand how this hurts MMA. Silva wins, it’s proof (somewhat at least) that MMA is superior to boxing. And Silva would win, right??? This would be good for MMA, getting boxing fans who would not otherwise watch MMA an excuse to buy a PPV and get exposed to the sport.
It makes a mockery of the UFC. If Leites wasn’t worthy of Silva, how the hell is Jones Jr? Unless you do a boxing match….in an octagon? Nope. No upside.
LMAO Roy Jones would get demolished
What?! Please realise how much bigger, more experience and a better boxer Roy Jones is than Silva! In a ring under Queensbury rules Roy Jones would torture Anderson Silva
In in ring under boxing rules jones might have a chance, becuase silva might throw an illegal strike via elbow, knee, kick or anything he is used to. But in the octagon Silva would kill jones they don’t call him the pound for pound best fighter in the world for no reason.
Agreed. Boxing a boxer especially one as good as JR is not a good idea for a jack of all trades kind of fighter. Silva would get destroyed under boxing rules. At the same time, it’s not a good idea for a puncher to step into the octagon with someone that can hurt you in every way imaginable. Silva is a good enough striker to avoid getting ko’d by JR long enough to submit him or pull some wicked ground and pound
Under MMA rules, that could happen via takedown and sub. Under boxing rules, I’m not so sure.
Fact of the matter is Roy Jones and Silva in a ring Jones wins, in a cage Silva pounds him out. Fact
I think the fighting “surface” has some impact, but not necessarily enough to change the outcome of a boxing match. The Boxing rules v. MMA rules makes a huge difference, and that is what I was getting at.
I also think the octogon is quite a bit bigger than a traditional boxing ring. That might play a role, but I’m unsure who it would favor.
I think it would be great to see a fight like this, but in all reality, I agree with Dana 100%. It would be nothiing but a novelty act, a cash grab, and I think that Dana is right that this hurts the sport in the long run. Sure, I would love to see Derek Jeter run a crossing pattern into Ray Lewis territory but stuff like that should just be left to fantasy. It kind of has that “pros vs. joes” feel to it and I think it undermines the UFC’s ability to be the independant, legitimate sport that it is.
derek jeter playin football is completly diff. boxing is a part of mma and there similar sports. wat do baseball and football hafta do wit each other? nothing. a better comparison is brandon jacobs playin rugby. atleast those sports r somewat similar.
The idea is that MLB and the NFL have nothing to gain by such a stunt. It’s not a matter of whether Anderson can compete with Jones Jr and vice versa, the idea is that is doesnt make any sense for the organizations.
This is a very very stupid idea, Jones Jr clearly is trying to get himself some hipe for whatever reason. Didnt he put the garbage mma/boxing event on not too long ago? Give me a break.
We dont need a circus show in the UFC. Leave that to idiots that want to put limbless fighters into shows.
dana didnt want to do the boxing match cuz he wouldnt get money off a boxing ppv(or mayb for loanin out silva he would idk). but now roy jones has the juavos to not only fight one of the best p4p fighters but to do it in silvas “territory” if u will. so wats the problem mr white? if ur scared of silva losing to a past his prime roy jones jr ur a no balled *ussy loser i mean come on i kno silva hasnt looked like the assassin we kno in his last 2 fights but come on. now if u really think this fight would hurt mma ur just a tool. how does it hurt mma to have a boxer come and bring his fanbase wit him. i mean isnt that the same thing u did wit lesner? u signed him cuz of his collegiate wrestling skill and the fact that he brings his pro wrestling fanbase wit him. so wats the problem wit jones. his boxing skills while not as sharp as they were r still pretty damn good. and hes still gettin good fights and still has a fanbase as shown by his fight wit calzaghi and the 24/7 they did for that fight on hbo. now dana y not grow a pair and say the real reason u dont want this fight to happen in the octagon u dont want to pay jones his ridiculous boxing salary. remember when u said “the ufc puts on fights the fans want to see”? well im pretty sure fans would like to see this
For one thing, it is still proposed to be a boxing match, so even though it would be in the Octagon instead of a boxing ring, it would still be boxing rules. Do you really want the UFC to put one some sort of sideshow hybrid card with a boxing match between RJJ and Silva taking place as a part of it. The UFC puts on MMA events, period. If RJJ took up MMA and won a few matches and wanted to come to the UFC under MMA rules White might consider it, but under boxing rules, what’s the point?
not mma? nvm then i thought he meant he fight silva at mma screw it then thats gay i take it all back
My bad man, I just read the CBS article, it was proposed to be under MMA rules.
well im back to being interested in this fight then lol. but seriously think how many boxing fans would watch just for rjj. im telling u boxing fans still love rjjand theyve probably seen 0 mma fights. and whos to say once they watch one and see its as much a “sweet science” as boxing they wont become hooked. and also think of the coverage the event would get. espn would b all over it. i still say that if u signed lesner for his wrestling and pro wrestling fanbase jones is the same situation. so make him come in the lesner way. say to him “eh roy u wanna fight silva heres wat u do 1st u have 1 fight in some small org. then we sign u and u fight a couple fights. now if u win 1 out of 2 well give u silva.” there exactly how lesner came up. and rjj has just as big a fanbase from boxing
it should be under mma rules that will show just how much better mma is to boxing…
i remember an old jean claude van dam movie where he entered a tournement and fought other martial artists( NO not blood sport ) near the begining of the movie he squared off against the world boxing title holder who was also invited to the tourney… they fought before the tourny and guess who lost… the boxer… why? because they dont kick
ya that was The Quest awesome movie. i saw that when i was like 10 lol
really a Jean-Claude Van Damme SCRIPTED movie is your basis here…haha. Not that I don’t agree but a scripted movie, you’re better than that my friend.
know what other reason the he lost? Cuz its a movie :O shh, dont tell anyone
haha dude that was hella funny
Making a boxing match in a UFC card would only for sure hurt the UFC and the sport. Yeah it would attracked loads of people who are not MMA but boxing fans, but it would make MMA look stupid.
I agree with Justin on this one, if RJJ wants to be apart of MMA and get any kind of entrance into the UFC he better go take some jj classes and work on some wrestling…..and win a few fights like Justin pointed out to even be considered to fight in the UFC.
Boxing is a part of MMA, but only a part. I’m tired of all these boxers and MMa fighters wanting to fight eachother. These kind of actions only hurt the credibility of MMA and make it look less professional.
RJJ is way past his prime, he problably is out of money like White said. I don’t know why Anderson Silva would want to fight RJJ, he has nothing to gain but lots to lose. Silva the proclaimed by many to be the P4P best MMA fighter in the world, how would it look for MMA and the UFC if he went into a fight with washed up RJJ? And if he were to lose, wouldn’t that make MMA look stupid?
Anyway Dana White said as long as Anderson Silva is in contract with the UFC, the fight will not happen.
i doubt this fights ever going to happen by the times andersons contract is up and books the fight RJJ will be acient and likely retired.
Ok people lets really think about this… MMA fighter at the pinnacle and boxer on his way out… I don’t see that as much of a mega fight for that reason. RJJ would be killed in the octagon and as far as just boxing then RJJ would outscore Silva in a boxing match. The fight makes no sense whatsoever and especially in the octagon it’d be boring as hell if they had gentleman’s agreement not to go to the ground everyone would be writing about how Anderson sucks even more for agreeing to that. No one really benefits from this fight at this point, I think Dana is a jerk sometimes but he is right for sticking to his guns here.
dana is a tool. and each fighter would respectively beat one another at their own game
This fight is NEVER going to happen… period. As long as Anderson is the champ, he is a UFC fighter. His contract will keep extending until he loses.
If this fight does ever surface (which I doubt it will) it will be as much of a draw as Mercer vs. Sylvia. I still would like to see these two fight (as I love to watch fights in general) but it’s just not going to happen. Everything in between is just speculation.
fr vs roy jones jnr if we cant get anderson….. step up fr mate
It’s very simple …… if the rules are boxing Roy Jones wins by way of KO . If its MMA anderson silva wins …. Dana knows Roy has enough left to take out Silva so he wont risk his best fighter . Silva’s striking while being impressive wont be able to handle the rediculous combo’s and movement of Jones .
the fact is we watch ufc because its MMA, i dont wanna pay to watch a boxing match wether its in the ring or in the octagon, if roy wants to fight in the ufc he needs to learn some types of martial arts and work his way in and up to the best, pride used to do that and look what happend they’re no longer in business, ufc is for martial artists not whoever wants to from any organization. good decision dana
alright ” That’s a Pride or K-1 matchup. It’s not what we do.” wtf would he send lesnar after couture…. with one win under his belt. gracie against hughes………..junie browning!!!!!!
Yeah man…there’s totally no way that Lesnar could win that fight. What were they thinking?
Why does anyone wanna say boxing is better or mma is better than boxing is crazy to me..
2 completely different sports 2 different universes!!
It’s like soccer vs football. 2 different rules to different games enjoyed by 2 different fans that’s all.
Is one better than the other NO!!! Only personal choice is all.
My uncle since I was 5 kept me in a boxing gym with him, and still we watch tapes and spar together. But I LOVE MMA!! He however hate MMA. I also LOVE BOXING 2 different sports. Neither is better than the other since you need both in both sports to compete. Yeah we can speak on the corruption of boxing over the years but the same can be said of mma world now {elite ex}
Even though they can compete against each other in these hybrid matches IMO TOP organizations like the UFC shouldn’t do these kinda of matches.
UFC is for mma fighters who have trained in several types of Martial arts and who want to compete at an elite level.
Why does Roy Jones have to be broke to want to fight??? Cant 2 guys who respect each other skill just wanna test their selves against some one whom they both have said they love to watch fight????????????? I seriouly doubt Roy Jr is broke!!!!!!!!!!!
But in boxing ring with boxing rules even at his age Roy jr wins!!!
But in mma octagon with mma’s rules without superior boxing A. silva wins!!
First of all, boxing and mma are not two totally different sports, acutally boxing is one discpline of many used in mma. Sometimes you have a mma match that the fighters box the whole night sometimes going to descion and sometimes getting knocked the hell out. The truth of the matter is that mma is at its infancy and a match would make mma like foolish. Second is maybe japan can have the worlds best heavyweight on an exhibition match with a smalling dude, but no way would it be acceptable for the largest and best organzation to have such a match. They are running a billion dollar company, not a circus. If you can not relate to this and understand some it, omg go back to the 3rd grade.
Totally agree with Dana on this one. Ten years ago this fight may have made some sense to help add legitimacy and publicity to MMA. But it’s a much more established sport now, and even arguably more mainstream than boxing. Putting a fight like this together would be a step backward for MMA.
Whether Silva wins or loses, all it would be is a one night payday for the UFC, but harm the sport as a whole.
espn hbo they all play boxing fights wit espn playin classics like holyfield and hbo playin current fights. on sportcenter u cant get them to talk about mma unless chuck is involved. but theyll have tony atlas or wateva his name is talk bout boxing til hes red in the face.
Let RJJ work his way up the ranks, like anyone else. If you want to compare him to Lesnar, pit him against a #3/4 guy and see how he does. If its a close loss, let him fight #7/8. I think its respectable to give a guy, proven in another sport, a respectable entry. If he wins, maybe then a title shot is doable.
I wouldnt want this to be the rule and Joe Silva knows more about it than I do, maybe RJJ isnt even worthy of a 3/4 fight now a days. I dont watch boxing so I dont really know his skills.
Even Lesnar, who deserving or not has become the “poster boy” for people who say the UFC give fights to people who don’t deserve it etc., had one MMA fight before the UFC picked him up, RJJ should do the same. Heck, he’s got his own promotion that does hybrid cards, he can line up somebody to fight him in MMA in his promotion, or maybe he’s worried he won’t make as much money if he doesn’t box on the card.
Thats a good point and I agree. My original intent was that he should be allowed an “express lane” into the UFC if thats where he wants his career to go but a title shot is not a first fight.
If RJJ were talking about switching to MMA and wanting an entry point to becoming an MMA fighter that makes some sense and is similar to Lesnar. But I don’t think that is what they are talking about. They are talking about a boxing or a hybrid match, not a true MMA match.
I hate making this comparison, but it would be similar to the boxer vs. pro wrestler matches that were popular in the 70’s. And they were almost always a joke.
If you follow the CBS link above (which I failed to do initially yesterday) it says in that article, “The 40-year-old Jones, who is coming off a win against game but faded vet Omar Sheika last month, is willing to battle the 34-year-old Silva in the UFC Octagon, adhering to regular UFC rules.”
Thanks for the clarification. I missed that also. In that case I’m with the previous post that said put him in the octagon with someone ranked first. You don’t get a shot at the champ in your first bout coming from another sport.
I dont think that is his intent either. If he wants a fight with Silva though, thats the only road I see to get there.
no title shot just have the fight. just cuz he fights silva doesnt mean it has to b for the belt.
I would agree except that champions SHOULD fight for their titles. They only fight 2-3 times a year, and fighting someone in a non title fight just ‘wastes’ a potential title defense. Particularly with Silva moving up to 205 also. That means he fights once at 205 and only one title difense MAX in the next year.
ok the hype of this fight is nowhere near as it used to be. i mean when silva was on top of the world when people didn’t question his killer instinct i would have enjoyed the matchup. but to me the hype is dying down and i really don’t care if it happens or not. Now with the last two performances silva put on their is now possibility in peoples minds that silva can be beat…what i mean is it clarified that he was not invincible.
God stop calling anderson the top pound for pound guy.. I was hoping his recent lack of ability to finish fights.. when any other p4p ranked figthters ALL finish their fights.. people would have dropped off sucking Andersons dick already.
I don’t even get why the UFC push’s silva as the p4p guy from their fighter stable when they could Push GSP, who could easily be argued as the best.
Silva lost his edge ages ago. Maybe when he gets to LHW and will actually fight things will be better for him and he’ll return to the fighter I used to love.