Mike and Roy left it all in the ring tonight
#TysonJones pic.twitter.com/zUirisWPqN— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside)
November 29, 2020
Dana White isn’t necessarily a fan of combat sports events with
fighters who are past their primes.
However, the UFC president was keeping a close eye on the Mike
Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. boxing exhibition while simultaneously
working the UFC on ESPN 18 card in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
White was admittedly skeptical that the aging boxing stars could
put on a show, but he came away impressed following the conclusion
of the bout, which was unofficially declared a draw after eight
rounds by the WBC judges.
“You guys have been asking me questions leading up to this thing
and I didn’t want to say anything negative because I love Tyson and
he’s a good friend of mine. I was nervous,” White said at the UFC
on ESPN 18 post-fight press conference. “He’s [54] years old. Time
is undefeated. Time takes us all down. One of the things is I was
worried for Mike is he has this incredible aura still. Fighting is
a young man’s game. All that being said, he looked f—ing awesome
tonight. I was blown away how good he looked.
“And I was worried about Roy. Roy is 51 years old. Roy’s been more
active than Tyson has been. But Roy actually got more tired than
Mike tonight, which was shocking. I’m happy for them. I hope they
both made a f—ing zillion dollars. And it exceeded my
expectations.”
Though the California State Athletic Commission had already
announced that an official winner wouldn’t be declared prior to the
bout, White had his own opinion about who should have had his hand
raised.
“Tyson won the fight,” he said.
At the conclusion of the bout, Tyson said that he “absolutely”
wants to box again. While White often takes a stance against
fighters in his promotion who want to compete at an advanced age,
he has no plans of trying to convince Tyson to stop.
“He’s a grown-ass man. He’s gonna do what he wants anyway,” White
said. “It was actually a good fight. it was an entertaining fight
to watch. I’m happy for him.”
Jones, meanwhile, has shown interest in revisiting a boxing match
against Anderson
Silva, who was released from the UFC following a loss to
Uriah
Hall on Oct. 31. When asked if he’d have any interest getting
involved in promoting such a bout since it would include a future
UFC Hall of Famer, White declined.
“To my core, I am a f—ing fight fan. I truly believe the fight
business is for young guys. It’s not for old guys,” White said.
“When you’re a fight fan, I want to see the the best up-and-coming
kids in the world in every division. As a fight fan that’s who I
am. That kind of stuff doesn’t interest me. Anderson
Silva had his day. Roy Jones Jr. had his day. Today is not
their day. There’s plenty of people that do the old guy stuff. I
don’t do the old guy stuff.”