UFC President Dana White shared his admiration for both boxing greats Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. following their exhibition boxing match this past weekend.
During the UFC Vegas 15 post fight press conference White stated that he had watched the bout while cage side for the UFC event live at the UFC Apex facility.
“I was nervous, he’s 56 years old,” White said about Tyson. “Time is undefeated, time takes us all down and one of the things that I was worried about for Mike is that he has this incredible aura still you know, and 56 years old fighting is a young man’s game.”
“All that being said, he looked fucking awesome tonight, I was blown away by how good he looked and I was worried about you know, Roy’s 51 years old but Roy’s been way more active than Tyson has been but Roy actually got more tired than Mike tonight which was shocking and I’m happy for them, I hope they both made a fucking zillion dollars and ah, yeah it exceeded my expectations,” White explained.
White was then asked by MMA Junkies John Morgan what his thoughts were on a potential Anderson Silva vs Roy Jones Jr. boxing fight and if he or the UFC would like to be involved in some way.
“I don’t know,” Dana White said. White then continued to explain that while he is a fan of fighting he “truly believes” the fight business is for younger fighters.
“I get there is still some name value out there and you can go out there and you can make some money but when you’re a fight fan I want to see the best in the world, the best up and coming kids, the best in the world, I want to see these guys fight and I want to know who is the badest motherfucker in the world in ever division and as a fight fan that’s just who I am and that kind of stuff doesn’t interest me you know? Anderson Silva had his day, Roy Jones Jr. had his day, today is not their day, It’s just not,” White explained.
Earlier this month Silva was cut by the UFC after taking a loss to Uriah Hall in the main event of UFC Vegas 14. Following this, the company decided to let go of Silva who had lost seven of his last eight fights. Following his departure, Roy Jones Jr. expressed his interest in welcoming him to the boxing ring after his bout with Tyson.