Dana White refuses to promote “old guy” fight between Anderson Silva and Roy Jones Jr.

By Adam Martin - November 29, 2020

UFC president Dana White says that he refuses to promote an “old guy” fight between legends Anderson Silva and Roy Jones Jr.

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White recently released the 45-year-old Silva from the roster following a devastating knockout loss to Uriah Hall on Halloween. Silva has since become a free agent but has already been turned down by Bellator, PFL, and ONE Championship, though RIZIN remains interested. Another option for Silva is to go into boxing, and a fight against another aging legend like Jones Jr. is a possibility. The 51-year-old Jones Jr. fought 54-year-old Mike Tyson to a draw on Saturday night at a big boxing event in Los Angeles.

Prior to the fight with Tyson, Jones Jr. said that he would be open to a boxing match with Silva depending on how the Tyson fight went. Now that the fight was scored a draw, there is certainly the possibility that some promoter would be interested in booking Jones Jr. vs Silva, but that won’t be White. Speaking to the media following UFC Vegas 15, White said that he has no interest in booking “old guy” matchups.

“Anderson Silva had his day. 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 guys that are up and coming, and this is what I’m interested in. This is what I love to do,” White said (via MMAjunkie.com). “I could sit here all (expletive) night and watch kids that fought tonight fight. It’s what I love to do. It’s just not what I really love to do. There’s plenty of people out there that do that. Plenty of people that do the ‘old guy’ stuff. I don’t do the ‘old guy’ stuff.”

Do you think Dana White is right in refusing to book Anderson Silva vs. Roy Jones Jr.?