Dana White: I Wish Anderson Silva And Roy Jones Jr. Would Just Focus On Their Next Opponents
UFC president Dana White is rarely shy about voicing his true opinions, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that he’s got some interesting things to say in the week leading up to what may be the biggest card the UFC has ever put on.
Of course that hype is centered on the monumental rematch between UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman and former champ Anderson Silva, one of the most popular and polarizing stars MMA has ever seen. Silva was knocked out by Weidman at UFC 162, prompting many to speculate that the champ had lost focus on fighting in MMA. It was thought that he had shifted his desire to a long-rumored fight with decorated boxing champ Roy Jones Jr.
Jones Jr. recently fought and won in Russia, and has said that he wants to fight Silva there at a future UFC event. White is apparently on board with the bout, appearing on Fox Sports Live to discuss booking the fight just to get the two combatants off his back:
“These two drive me crazy. So I’m in this position where I feel like Roy wants to fight him, he wants to fight Roy – I feel like I’m in this position to try to make both of these guys happy. But it drives me crazy. I would love Roy Jones Jr. to focus on his next opponent and Anderson to focus on his. We’ll talk about all this stuff. I know Roy’s coming to the fight.”
So Jones Jr. will be coming to the fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday, just like he did when Silva got knocked out in July. Perhaps “The Spider” was trying to impress the boxing great with his showboating ways against Weidman, but obviously that backfired in a big way.
Regardless, it looks like a boxing match between Silva and Jones Jr. is beginning to come to fruition. However, if Silva loses at UFC 168 a lot of the luster of that bout will be immediately taken away.
The bottom line is that Silva must take Weidman seriously if he wants to regain his coveted UFC middleweight championship. He’s getting up there in years, and knows that the rematch against Weidman will be instrumental in defining his lasting legacy.
But is that enough for him to ditch the antics and focus on “The All-American?”
