(Who could say no to that face?)

Anderson Silva must not hear the word ‘no’ very often. Just because Dana White tells him that a fight between he and Roy Jones Jr. absolutely, positively cannot happen, Silva isn’t going to let it go so easily. This refusal to accept White’s decision became clear recently when Silva told Sherdog.com:

“I’m still confident this fight will happen. This can be this year or in 2009. I respect Dana White, the UFC owners and their point of view, but my vision is that I want this boxing match.”

Now see, that Anderson Silva seems like such a nice boy. Maybe if Randy Couture had adopted this attitude…well, we won’t go down that path.

The champ pressed on with his reasoning for demanding the fight despite White’s resistance:

“[T]his is my huge personal wish, a pro boxing fight against Roy Jones, who I consider the top boxer. I’m his fan as well. I’d like this fight to happen and I’ll do everything possible to make it happen. Roy Jones stated his will to fight as well. He has an exceptional character, and we want this fight. This would be good for both sports — MMA and boxing. This would be historical! This has to happen! I can’t believe that the people responsible to make it happen don’t see that. They can’t let the fans be without this match, which can mark the story of the fight sport.”

At some point, with Silva being so vocal about this issue, you have to wonder whether Dana White isn’t secretly loving this. Maybe not loving it in the sense that he wants the fight to actually happen, but it’s a great way to get people talking, including people who might not have paid much attention to the UFC or MMA before now.

That said, don’t hold your breath waiting for this fight to happen any time soon, at least not while Silva’s value to the UFC is still so great.