Retirement may soon be at an end for the UFC’s original bonus hunter, although not for the reason you’d expect.
Chris Lytle, the 39-year-old welterweight who retired from mixed martial arts in mid-2011 following a 13-year career, is currently in negotiations to box legendary pugilist Roy Jones Jr., according to a report made by MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani on Wednesday’s edition of UFC Tonight.
Lytle is reportedly “very hopeful” that an agreement between the two parties can be finalized. UFC officials have already given him their blessing to pursue the opportunity.
While it’s still early, if signed, the bout would likely be a 10-round match contested at 175 pounds. It would be televised, and Lytle says a fight date is being targeting for the fall, although a specific date or location has yet to be determined.
A full-time fire fighter, Lytle retired from mixed martial arts with a 31-18-5 career record, including a 10-10 mark in the UFC, where he went on to become a fan favorite and claim 10 post-fight bonuses for his exciting fighting style. Lytle also unsuccessfully ran for the Indiana State Senate in 2012.
Though “Lights Out” is no stranger to the ring. From 2002 to 2005, Lytle compiled a 13-1-1 record as a professional boxer, with seven of those wins ending via KO or TKO. His last match, a seventh-round TKO over Omar Pittman, came in June 2005.
According to Helwani, the match would simply be a one-off for Lytle, not the start of a new career, as Jones used to be Lytle’s favorite boxer, so the chance to test himself against such a renowned figure would be, in his words, a dream come true.
Jones is widely considered one of the greatest boxers of his era. Since debuting as a professional in 1989, Jones has accumulated a 57-8 record and captured titles across the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. And at 45 years old, he’s still active, having outpointed Zine Eddine Benmakhlouf last December.
“I’d be happy every second that I was in there with him,” Lytle told Helwani.