No Room For Roy Jones Jr. In MMA
Roy Jones Jr.
They say desperation is the easiest thing to smell on a person. Perhaps it is radiating from once unstoppable pugilistic powerhouse Roy Jones Jr. When Jones Jr. was denied his offer to step out of the ring and into the UFC octagon with Anderson Silva, I thought little of it and assumed that Jones would stop there in terms of his MMA pursuits.
I was wrong.
Apparently, Jones has also been turned down from the only other major thriving MMA promotion in the country, San Jose based Strikeforce. Jones Jr.’s second attempt at competing in mixed martial arts was met with similar disdain after rumors swirled about him meeting veteran Nick Diaz under the Strikeforce banner.
While Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker seemed at least indifferent to the notion of R.J.J. stepping up to the MMA challenge, the idea was thoroughly squashed after Showtime executive Ken Hershman voiced his distaste for playing host to the 40 year old boxer’s foray into the cage. Via teleconference, Hershman was quoted that he believes it is “an insult to the integrity of mixed martial arts to think that Roy Jones or any professional boxer could just come in and fight Nick Diaz in a mixed martial arts context.”
Color me pessimistic, but I get the distinct feeling that Jones Jr.’s recent cross-combat quest has less to do with discovering a new love for MMA and more to do with padding an offshore back account. For those who are more in the know about boxing feel free to answer this question, did Roy Jones blow through all of his cash a la Mike Tyson or something? Because that would explain a lot.
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I’m glad to hear that the offers Jones Jr. made to the UFC and Strikeforce were denied.
Dude What The Fu*k??? MMA is NOT Boxing. Despite how a lot of “Boxing Purists” bash MMA as “Human Cockfighting”, MMA has way more elements that just “boxing” MMA requires incredible dedication and sacrifice, problably more so than boxing because MMA fighters train to fight in many different discipilines that require the use of their entire body rahter than just “fancy” footwork and jabs that boxing works with.
Honestly the only way i would ever even for a second think that the UFC would allow any kind of boxing into the UFC would be if a guy at the level of Manny Pacquiao would want to fight a UFC fighter, but it would still have to be an MMA not Boxing match.
I don’t know whats up with all these boxers thinking that they can just join MMA and have success. MMA is a real sport, you can’t just come so easily because your a big Boxing name Roy Jones Jr.
Anyway i just hate it when things like this take place, i’m an MMA fan, i just don’t want to see anything that would hurt the credibility of this sport, especially at a time when it;s really growing and becoming better and more exciting than ever.
Roy Jones…give it up dude, if you blew your money thats too bad, go get a job doing commentary or something like that.
well, Jones would crush Silva inside of 2 minutes! it would be Mercer vs Silvia all over again. that’s what MMA fans are afraid of.
k dude if roy jones was running out of money he wouldnt be going into mma to get it. a fight with lacy would earn him way more then strikeforce would ever pay him. no mma promotion would pay him more then fedor’s asking price of 1 to 1.5 mill. and roy has made way more then 1 mill for every major boxing fight he’s been in.
I see no problem with a boxers wanting to try out MMA. Anyone remember when the UFC’s fighter’s were only adept at one skill and it was more martial art vs martial art? Damn those fights were brutal and interesting. Yeah, MMA has evolved, but so can Jones Jr.. Look at guys like Lesnar, Couture, Barnett, Henderson: all were wrestlers only (some with minimum striking) then went into MMA, all are/were champs. When you get an athlete that is one of the best in the world at their particular skill, sometimes that’s all they need to be great. I’m not saying for one second that Jones Jr. will be a great MMA fighter. I’m just saying nothing bad will come from this.
I remember over a year ago people were saying Lesnar had no business in the Octagon: he’s a fake, can only wrestle, he’ll get knocked out. Boy did he prove you all wrong.
Put Jones Jr. in a cage or MMA ring and see what he’s got.
there’s one major difference between RJJ getting in there as opposed to a lesnar or a any other athlete for that matter… he’s 40 years old. Time is working against him there. With the exception of Lesnar, every wrestler you mentioned was training/fighting in MMA for awhile(not to mention in another era and the transition is usually easier for wrestlers) and also they certainly did not jump in and fight one of the P4P best out of the gate. Lesnar was even training for over a year when he had his first MMA fight. If Roy Jones Jr. hopped into MMA seriously, it would take about a year for him to be ready. By that time he’s 41, he’s not randy couture and since 2004 he’s only a .500 fighter. By the time he learned the submissions, shot defense, how to work the cage, etc… he’d be too old to make any real impact on the sport.
Jones Jr. is a stud, plain and simple. He’s jacked, he’s quick, and yeah, he’s kinda old. Put the dude in an MMA fight against a striker and he wins. Put him against a wrestler, and if the fight goes to the ground, he loses. Who knows, maybe Jones has been training MMA on the side (at least you’d think that much if he’s challenging Silva). Couture has proven age is only a number, and although Roy’s taken a few too many punches to the head, his chin’s solid and his body hasn’t been exposed to the rigors of MMA, which could be to his advantage. I don’t think Jones Jr. will fare well in the UFC if he fights a top guy, but give him some shmuck and he’ll destroy him.
I know this will get some flack, but he doesn’t need to learn the ground game: He’s Roy mother f’in Jones Jr. He will knock guys out with one punch. Kongo couldn’t control Marrero, but you don’t see people bashing a kickboxer for no ground game. You know why? Cause Kongo is that damn good at striking.
So back to the original point/question: how does this hurt MMA?
Yeah, Jones is paid… I don’t understand the motive behind “Boxers” trying to pose and think they could hang with our guys in the UFC. ANYONE with a “decent” ground game would more than likely maul a pure boxer. He has enough money, what could he possibly want with our sport? GIve it up bud.
Trust me it takes just as much dedication to train in Boxing as it does for MMA. The bashing goes both ways. Most MMA purist bash Boxing just as much as Boxing purist bash MMA. The honest truth of the matter is a top level boxer like Mayweather or Jones(in his prime) could have some success in MMA. Hell Brock Lesnar became champ after 3 fights, why couldnt Mayweather or Jones do well in MMA. Keep their striking skills and adopt a awesome sprawl and u have a dangerous fighter.
Trust me, there is a reason why they dont want some of these boxers to come in, for one the money just isnt there to pay what these guys demand. “Example Paquiao recieved 12 million dollars for his purse and on top of that he recieved 52% of the PPV profit.” MMA is still far away from paying that. The second reason is these guys present a very real threat to there fighters. When Dana White says he is protecting MMA hes full of crap. He and Hershman are just protecting their respective brands. It wasn’t too long ago when Dana White offered to match up Sean Sherk against Mayweather when Sherk was the champ. His attitude changed very fast after he saw BJ Penn out-box Sherk.
Now too answer your question, I dont believe Roy Jones is broke. I just think his ego is finally coming back to Earth and he realizes that hes just not going anywhere in Boxing. But the natural competitor in him is pushing him towards a new thrill,”MMA”. I dont even think he wants to do all out MMA, he just wants to fight A Silva. The Strikeforce stuff came outta no where. The only reason his name is even mixed up with Strikeforce is because Nick Diaz wants to fight him. Jones has never publicly mentioned Strikeforce.
Bzul3 EXACTLY!!!
Man did you nail it on the button or what.
Roy just like us loves MMA, Has showed up at UFC events sponsered and fought in a hybrid event and publicly says he loves the sport.
I dont think at his age he should be trying to enter mma with only boxing as his pedigree but Like you said if he was in his prime and training in other areas {like brock lesnar} why wouldn’t he be allowed to fight??
Andre Arlowski, Timmmmeh Sylvia and some one else I forget are entering the boxing scene why not boxers do the same in mma.
Again I’m not saying Roy jones should at this stage of his life but the kind of competitor he is,,,, he wisely or not wants to compete…
He wont make the kind of money he needs for his kinda bill in a mma match anyway!!!!!
Boxers look at those 5 to 8 oz gloves and stamina and think they can KO anyone in mma any one which quite honestly a real boxer with legitamate skill could. But I know its way more to mma than that. But thats a boxer’s mind set, that and the fact they believe Dana White is protecting his UFC organization.
Personally I think someone like Paquiao or Mayweather could make the transition if they wanted to. I just don’t think Jones Jr. could do it at this point in his career and be a true force.
To me it isn’t about boing versus MMA, it never has been because I still love both. Boxing at it’s best is a beautiful sport just like MMA but they are both different sports. That said many MMA fighters have some sort of boxing background. The issue to me is more so the legitimacy of Roy Jones Jr. getting in the cage and fighting an MMA rules fight against Anderson Silva. People who love both boxing and MMA (as we both apparently do) respect both fighters in their respective sports. Boxing is part of MMA but MMA isn’t part of boxing.
On the Mayweather deal…Mayweather called out MMA as a whole and then Dana said he’d organize the bout, Mayweather is the one who called it off and did wrestlemania instead. http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/FOXSportsMMA/Sean_Sherk/64793
You’re right about Dana protecting his brand though because THAT fight honestly benefits no one in the UFC at all. Now if you set up a Torres-Paquaio or Mayweather-Penn fight or something along those lines…I’d probably have to have someone resuscitate me. That’d be something I’d want to see.
if this was 5 years ago, maybe roy couldve learned some takedown defense, jj, wrestling and maybe he couldve hanged. but now?!? he is 40, too old to learn new tricks. boxing is hard, but I think mma is harder due to the fact that there are multiple disciplines to learn and defend against. I see no good of roy coming to mma… he might have boxing fans purchase a ppv with him in it and they might become new fans. I doubt that, I know die-hard boxing fans that do not like mma, they say its too barbaric… this will settle the debate that mma is harder/better. no because what happens if roy ko’s his opponent? that will forever cement the thought in many peoples minds that boxing is better. its not fair to have a mma guy fight a boxer. what rules would be used? would kicks, takedowns, subs be allowed? how many rounds, how long are the rounds? there is nothing to be gained for mma.
first and foremost i am an mma fan but to say that boxers dont have to train as hard isnt right and it shows how hard they train every striker we call a good striker in mma has nothing on a mid level boxer the speed power and technique shown in boxing is not shown in mma mixed martial artist may have to train more disciplines but thats why they’re striker isnt nearly as good
now do i think roy jones could win in pure mma probably not but anyone at his caliber or at least in his prime has a very good chance of knocking some one out from any angle including as they shoot in for a takedown
there is no place to take either side so firm both are great sports and mma is just evolution
all this boxing vs mma talk cant be solved with one fight you need to put and mma guy in a boxing fight and then an mma fight with the same boxer in which case i do believe and mma fighter will last longer in a boxing match then a boxer will in an mma match but thats the only real way to settle it
But can Jones beat Anderson Silva in a mma fight……??????????? Hell Nooo.
I believe Roy Jones has no money issues. He still has some pretty lucrative endorsement deals out there as well. Unless he pulled a Mike Tyson lately, Jones Jr. is pretty set financially. I really think it’s like Bzul said he’s looking for something new to do.
id like to see silva knock him out and strut around R.J.J. just like he used to to his old opponents…i think it would be hilarious
OK this might to be the best analogy but I’m tired and at work. Let’s use.. I don’t know the skill it takes to drive a car.
So boxing is driving an automatic car say.. you just get in and drive and you don’t have to worry about this whole other element called shifting gears.
So MMA would be driving a standard.. largely similar in many ways to driving an automatic but you have a WHOLE NEW ELEMENT OF SKILL which allows you to basically do everything faster then an automatic. In the case of MMA this is represented in grappling and kicking.
My point being MMA is boxing with skill elements REMOVED not the other way around.
Can you please stop this boxing vs mma talk!!! A boxer would do really good against a mma fighter if there was a gentlemen’s aggreement to keep it standing, but on regular mma rules the boxer would have a hard time. Just remember the old UFC’s. So let this stuff die already, and lets move on.
If he wants to give MMA a shot, great! Let him! But let him cut his teeth in a smaller organization to show what he is worth. That’s what most other boxers that try to come to MMA need to do. Get a couple wins there, then fight a ranked opponent in the UFC or another big organization. You don’t just step into the cage with the champ in your first fight. Even Lesnar didn’t get to do that, and he has a much better resume for entering the UFC than RJJ.