Fighters Only

Issue 105

September 2013

ANDERSON SILVA STILL WANTS ROY JONES JR BOUT

Future UFC Hall of Famer Anderson Silva recently confirmed he still has a desire to fight 44-year-old multi-weight boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. Silva first expressed an interest in the boxing-rules bout several years ago, but had kept quiet on the subject until recently.

Silva, who holds the record as the longest reigning UFC middleweight champion ever, told the media that regardless of the outcome of his bout with Chris Weidman he “would love to fight” the former champion boxer.

He told the media: “I have a lot of other things I want to do. I have a lot of other desires, and one of those is fighting Roy Jones, but we’re just going to have to see how things go in the next couple of fights and see how I feel.”

Silva, 38, noted Jones had stated he would fight him, and said: “I feel that his boxing style is one that I’d like to test myself against. I’ve always been a fan of his, and I’ve always wanted to test myself against Roy Jones.”

BACKTALK

DAN HARDY: “Roy Jones is past his prime now and as soon as a fighter’s past his prime they go down hill pretty quick. Roy Jones relied on his speed and reaction time, which has obviously diminished now he’s older. Anderson Silva’s in his prime and he’s been fighting regularly. If they boxed, my money’s on Silva.”

MMA AMATEUR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS SET FOR UFC FAN EXPO 2014 IN LAS VEGAS

The first amateur MMA world championships organized by the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) will take place at the 2014 UFC Fan Expo in Las Vegas.

National teams representing federations recognized by the IMMAF will be eligible to enter. Athletes must meet certain criteria as required under the IMMAF’s amateur rules, and have been fairly selected by their national governing body.

IMMAF president August Wallen said: “We are dedicated in providing the MMA community with the first of many top-level world championships that will meet international quality standards as well as excite MMA practitioners and followers around the world.”

Based in Sweden and formed in 2012, the IMMAF recently acquired the ability to govern amateur mixed martial arts after wrestling body FILA dropped it from its portfolio a few months ago.

17,000

The first UFC event produced by Zuffa, 12 years ago, pulled 17,000 PPV buys, says UFC president Dana White. How far they’ve come.

The finish rate in the UFC is 50%, down by 25% from 2007, according to fight statistician Reed Kuhn.

WHAT’S HOT

AMATEUR WORLD CHAMPS

A much needed step in MMA’s reverse evolution

EXPO SEASON

Only in MMA can fans get this close to champions

BELLATOR MMA FIGHT MASTER

People seem to be enjoying the new take on TUF

WHAT’S NOT

FIGHTER PAY