Roy Jones-Anderson Silva Still Not On, Even in UFC

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Roy Jones-Anderson Silva Still Not On, Even in UFC

Filed on May 8th, 2009 in Boxing, MMA ⋅ ⋅

We already know that Roy Jones and Anderson Silva are not going to meet up in a boxing ring anytime soon. But how about the Octagon?

UFC chief Dana White nixed a potential boxing match between the superstar MMA-er and the past-his-prime boxer, refusing to allow Silva to risk himself in a boxing ring while he is under contract with the UFC. According to Jones, White had said that he didn’t want Silva and the UFC embarrassed if Jones were to knock out the UFC’s star attraction.

But recently, Jones said that he is willing to turn it around and meet Silva in the Octagon, and fight him under UFC rules. How would White respond to that, and is there a chance it could happen?

White’s response: None chance.

According to CBS Sports, via BloodyElbow.com, White confirmed that the offer was presented to him and that he passed on it.

“You won’t see a Silva versus Jones fight while Silva is under contract with me,” White said 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 said. “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.”

In White’s defense, he’s right. It would be a novelty match that would not be good for the overall image of the UFC.

But on the other hand, it may be what the fans, his fans, want to see.

In the never-ending boxing vs. MMA debate, it always seems to be that the MMA fans are the loudest and proudest. Boxing fans tend to stick to the “boxers will win at boxing, MMA guys will win at MMA” argument, but many MMA fans (from my experience) seem to want to have a chance for the MMA world to prove its dominance over boxing.

I subscribe to the theory that the fighter fighting in his professional discipline has a nearly insurmountable advantage in any mixed action fight. But of the two, I give a boxer a better chance in the Octagon than a mixed martial artist in the ring. The simple reason being that most MMA fighters have limited boxing skills and nothing else to fall back on in the ring, while boxers are experts at at least one discipline in MMA. Roy Jones stands a better chance at landing one great punch in the Octagon then Silva does at either winning a decision or beating Jones at his own game in the ring.

To me, White’s argument hasn’t changed. A Roy Jones win over Silva in the Octagon would cripple the UFC. A Silva win does nothing but land the company some great promotion. It’s a bad fight for White to accept.

I personally would love to see it for the sport of it. But White can make whatever decisions he wants. He’s managed the UFC pretty well so far, and if he doesn’t want to risk its reputation, I can respect that.

What I don’t get, and the argument that many are ignoring in this scenario is this: The UFC was created to measure different combat disciplines against each other. To answer the age-old questions of what is better. Karate or wrestling? Jiu-jitsu or taekwondo? Why can’t boxing be a competitor in the game?

Perhaps it’s as simple as the fact that the UFC has evolved. It is no longer a battle of martial arts, but a sport of one thing: mixed martial arts. No one seems to really be one discipline anymore, but a combination of many of them. If things were how they were back in the day, there would be a legitimate complaint from a boxer being excluded.

In Dana White’s UFC, however, it is no longer a battle of several combat arts. It is a league of mixed martial artists, and apparently boxing isn’t enough of a martial art to get a seat at the table.

I would love to see it happen, but the UFC of today is not what it was years ago. Roy Jones vs. Anderson Silva would make for great debate and a great event, but right now, White clearly isn’t ready to risk his empire on one fight.

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