Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion Anderson Silva has put on a storied career in mixed martial arts. The fighter went on to become one of the most dominant competitors in the world’s most famous mixed martial arts promotion with ten consecutive defenses of his UFC title. That being said, things lately have not been going “The Spider’s” way.
Silva was set to face off against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Fight Night 122. The two MMA warriors were scheduled to headline the UFC’s debut in Shanghai, China for the event. However, “The Spider” was pulled from the main event slot after failing an out of competition drug test. This was not Silva’s first offense, as the fighter failed a drug test back in 2015. Silva’s fight against Nick Diaz at UFC 183 was then overturned to a no contest.
All of that in mind, former world champion boxer Roy Jones Jr. is now once again trying to get a match up with “The Spider,” performance enhancing drugs or not.
Speaking on The Ask Gary Vee Show, Jones Jr. revealed that he is still looking to face off against Silva. The two fighters have been looking to throw down for years, but an official match up was never booked.
“I’m still trying to fight Anderson Silva right now,” Jones Jr. explained. “Me and Anderson Silva have been trying to fight way before Floyd Mayweather and McGregor ever thought about this. He has 14 professional boxing matches so the different thing about it is, he has boxing experience.”
When asked about Silva’s failed drug tests, Jones Jr. explained that he could care less.
“I don’t care about no PEDs,” Jones Jr. stated. “He can have all the PEDs he wants because that’s my man. I don’t believe he’d take PEDs against me, no way, but even if he had a PED show up in his system, I don’t care about that.”
Anderson Silva has since come forward over Instagram to reveal that he is down to fight the former boxing champion.
“ok Roy Jr this is everything I’ve wanted for years, long before all this happened, it will be a pleasure to step into the ring with you. I have great respect and admiration for everything you’ve done in boxing and everyone knows that this has always been my great dream. Let’s make this event happen. I think we have this right, in fact this is something that both You and I are willing to do. So. Let’s make it happen, Mr. Roy.”
