Following yet another dominant win for UFC champion Jon Jones, the clamor for a Jones bout against Anderson Silva only intensified.
But Dana White was quick to shoot down those ideas with a rebuttal of his own.
If you want the full details, check out Mike Hodges’ piece about what was said in the post-fight press conference.
White’s reasoning for not matching the two superstars up is because Jones is only 24, Silva is 37 and they’re in two different weight classes.
That’s a quick turnaround from five minutes before when White was saying, “Jones is the real deal.”
White has always been quick to say, “If Jones can get through this next guy…” after one of Jones’ dominating performances, but White had nothing but praises until the comment about a matchup against Silva came up.
Let’s examine White’s rebuttal in two parts. The first one is the age factor.
So he says Jones is “the real deal” at only 24 years of age, but when it comes to matching up against Silva, he’s too young? How does his age work both for and against him at the same time?
Tito Ortiz was much older than his UFC 132 opponent, Ryan Bader, but White had no issues with that matchup. Or any matches with Randy Couture fighting men half his age during his career.
Age doesn’t define a fighter’s skill level, talent does.
Speaking of Couture, he’s a prime example of why White’s argument of “two different weight classes” means nothing.
For years, Couture bounced back and forth between the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions and never once did the talk of him not being a natural heavyweight create any concern for White.
If he didn’t have an issue matching Couture with Brock Lesnar, two men whose weight discrepancies are far more than Jones and Silva’s, why does he a have a problem matching the latter two against one another?
It’s not like fighting at 205 pounds is anything new to Silva. He destroyed James Irvin and embarrassed former champion Forrest Griffin in his ventures up a weight class.
The bottom line: just like with the GSP-Silva super-fight, White doesn’t want to lose either investment right now.
If Silva wins, the “future of MMA” hype train is derailed and if Jones wins, White will have a hard time selling Silva in future bouts.
If White really wants to keep sticking to “giving fans what they want,” Jones-Silva needs to happen. Both men have one credible challenger before they’ve virtually wiped out their divisions.
The fans want their super-fight with Silva one way or another. It’s time for White to stop beating around the bush with hollow excuses and put this thing together.
Silva isn’t getting any younger, right Mr. White?
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