UFC 212: Jose Aldo wants to face Miguel Cotto on Anderson Silva vs Roy Jones Jr. undercard

Long before Conor McGregor lobbied for his chance to face Floyd Mayweather -- which he may actually get to do -- Anderson Silva repeatedly asked for a boxing match against his longtime idol, Roy Jones Jr.

It never came.

But “The Spider” isn’t giving up hope, as he stated during yesterday’s (Tues., April 11, 2017) UFC 212 press conference that he still hopes to mix it up with one of the best to ever step foot inside the boxing ring.

"First, it was always a dream to fight a guy like Roy Jones. I’m a fan,” Silva said (via MMA Fighting). "Second, it was always something that I wanted. I’ve followed Roy Jones since he was an Olympic athlete, and I’ve always looked up to his style of boxing. It’s something I always wanted to do. Regardless of being in the UFC or not, it was always something I wanted to do.”

And since UFC is now more open-minded, as evidenced by the promotion’s willingness to let “Notorious” throw down against “Money,” Silva says now is as good as time as ever.

"But let’s wait. So many things are happening. I never thought I would see so many of the things that are happening, so maybe it happens. Let’s wait. I hope it happens one day."

Silva’s request then prompted current Featherweight champion, Jose Aldo — who may or may not have been joking — to throw his name in the ring, too, as he stated he wouldn’t mind getting into the boxing arena on the same event, perhaps against Miguel Cotto.

"If it does happen, I want to be in this card, too, boxing,” Aldo said. "I’ll challenge, I don’t know, Miguel Cotto, something like that. I want to surf this wave as well. If it happens, Dana… Don’t forget me, Joe Carr. Don’t forget me because if it happens I want to fight, brother. We can go for takedowns, too. No problem."

While we’re at it, we can go ahead and throw Jimi Manuwa vs. David Haye on the card, as well.

See what you started, Conor?