Why Transition to MMA Would Be a Huge Mistake for Roy Jones Jr.

A long-speculated fight between boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. and MMA icon Anderson Silva might have been put on ice this weekend when Silva, a heavy favorite last Saturday night, was knocked unconscious by new undefeated middleweight champion Chris Weidman.

Perhaps doing his best Roy Jones Jr. impression, Silva appeared to be taunting Weidman with his hands down just seconds before he was put down and out by a short left hand.  

The win ended Silva’s 17-fight unbeaten streak as well as a nearly seven-year reign atop UFC’s middleweight division.

Thank goodness.

Because the greatest boxer of his generation, Roy Jones Jr., has absolutely no business being inside the ring with an MMA fighter no matter what the rules. Boxing, MMA, kickboxing, stick fight…it doesn’t matter. Jones Jr. versus Silva is a silly idea.

The potential fight was first reported way back in 2008 as a boxing match. Thankfully, Dana White, UFC head honcho, immediately put a stop to it.

Fightline stated White’s stance as reported by print journalist Dave Meltzer.

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UFC president Dana White has stated, in no uncertain terms, that there is no way that there will be a boxing rules match up between Roy Jones Jr. and UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

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It made perfect sense then, and it does now, too.

Even a long-past-his-prime Jones Jr. would toy with Silva (or any other MMA fighter for that matter) in a boxing match. The same would hold true the other way around. Silva would destroy Jones Jr. under MMA rules.

But White’s tone began to change recently. Before last weekend’s upset, he shockingly informed MMA Junkie he and Jones Jr. were “talking” again—whatever that means.

While he didn’t come right out and confirm a possible boxing match between Jones Jr. and Silva, he certainly alluded to the possibility.

"It makes no sense to me. It makes no sense to me," White told MMA Junkie. "I don't know why (Silva wants it). It's like these guys, when they grew up, they had their heroes or whatever their deal is, it's something they want to do or accomplish. This is something Anderson wants to do."

You have to hand it White. If there’s a time for Silva to try to box Jones Jr., there’s no better time than now. Once regarded as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Jones Jr. hasn’t won a significant fight since defeating Felix Trinidad way back in 2008, and Silva is on top of the world.

Well, he was on top of the world.

Let’s put it this way: suffering a shocking loss to a good competitor is still miles above what a 44-year-old Jones Jr. is today.

Still, Yahoo! Sports lead boxing and MMA writer Kevin Iole indicated the new plan isn’t for Silva to box Jones Jr. at all. Instead, Iole says Jones Jr. is considering leaping from the square ring he once dominated but hasn’t occupied in 2013 to the Octagon he’s probably only seen on TV.

Huh?

So Roy Jones Jr., the preeminent boxer of a generation, a fighter who’s long past his prime, who hasn’t even boxed in over a year, is going to take on an elite-level MMA fighter under UFC rules?

It makes absolutely no sense. Boxing fans don’t want to see it. MMA fans don’t want to see it. It’s just plain dumb.

When I pointed out the topic as my next Bleacher Report article, one of my more astute followers did his best to save me the trouble of writing at all.

“Tomorrow,” I tweeted, “I’ll tell you why Roy Jones should stay away from MMA.”

“I’ll just tell everyone now,” he replied. “Because he isn’t a MMA fighter.”

Indeed.