Perhaps cash really is still King.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White is no stranger to making bold predictions and teasing "big" announcements that aren't always the case.
Tonight (Oct. 30, 2012), White held true to form in a live chat with fans that was hosted online by MetroPCS, which we covered with live update right here earlier this evening. When White was asked about a potential super fight between his Middleweight and Light Heavyweight champions, he was unwavering with his response.
"I guarantee you Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones will absolutely happen," he said. "It's happening. It will happen."
No potential dates, events or venues were addressed, but one would have to deduce that it would go down sooner rather than later based in large part on Silva's advanced position in his illustrious mixed martial arts (MMA) career. At 37 years young and with a perfect record (16-0) inside the Octagon, the lethal Brazilian has little left to accomplish before calling it quits.
Indeed, Silva has a handful of fights remaining and he'll most likely want to make them count. He is admittedly more interested in a 180-pound catchweight fight with UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, but to hear White tell it (and he did), "they both make sense."
Silva and Jones have been publicly reluctant to face one another. And who can blame them: The winner will most likely walk away as the Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T.) in MMA. In other words, the downside of losing is a legacy risk. But, when White has all the money seemingly imaginable to make it happen, it appears that both Silva and Jones might be starting to realize it's a once-in-lifetime career risk worth taking.
The kind of risk that can set up a fighter for life win, lose or even (gasp!) dreaded draw.