Dana White not interested in promoting Roy Jones vs. Anderson Silva: 'I don't do the 'old guy' stuff'
LAS VEGAS – Dana White admitted he had half an eye on the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. fight during UFC on ESPN 18 on Saturday night, but said he wasn’t interested in getting into the business of promoting fights featuring aging legends.
Chatting to reporters, including MMA Junkie, backstage at the UFC Apex after the event, White was asked about whether he’d be interested in being involved if the much-discussed boxing exhibition bout between Jones Jr. and former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva ever came to fruition.
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” he admitted. “To my core, I am a (expletive) fight fan. What I truly believe is that the fight business is for young guys. It’s not for old guys. Listen, I get there’s still some name value out there and you can go out and you can make some money.”
Rather than chasing matchups featuring old-school heroes with recognizable names, White said he’s much more into building new stars and promoting fighters who are competing toward, or at, the peak of their powers.
“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,” he said. “I want to see these guys fight and I want to know who is the baddest mother (expletive) in the world in every division. As a fight fan, that’s who I am and that kind of stuff (promoting ‘legend’ fights) doesn’t interest me.
“Anderson Silva had his day. Roy Jones Jr. had his day. Today is not their day. It’s just not,” he continued. “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. 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.”
