UFC President Dana White says "I don't do old guy stuff" in response to Mike Tyson vs Roy Jones Jr.
UFC President Dana White respects Mike Tyson, but he has made it clear that he wasn't a big fan of the boxing icon's exhibition bout against Roy Jones Jr. this past Saturday.
November 28th marked the first time in 15 years that Mike Tyson stepped back inside the ring. Concurrently, UFC had a Fight Night event featuring Anthony Smith and Devin Clark.
In the post-fight press conference, Dana White was asked whether he would be interested in getting involved in a legends' fight like Mike Tyson vs Roy Jones Jr. The UFC President stated that the fight business is for the young guys and not the old, though he understands that there is money to be made on name value (H/T MMA Junkie):
“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.”
Dana White proceeded to say that as a fight fan, he wants to see the up-and-coming superstars prove that they're the best in the world. He stated that seeing younger fighters prove themselves is what interests him as a promoter, not a legends fight.
“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.”
Is Dana White right about legends fights?
Some would argue that Dana White's statements don't hold much weight due to the situations with Anderson Silva and BJ Penn, where both were given high-level opponents when they were past their prime.
Perhaps the BJ Penn situation was a bit worse, but with both of them gone, there aren't many legends left who fans feel have overstayed their welcome. Either way, the UFC and Dana White are all about promoting up-and-coming stars, and it's unlikely that we will see Dana White involved in a legends fight anytime soon.