This is a first for Jake Paul. Until now we haven’t heard any bad words about his opponent Anderson Silva, and he promised that we are not about to hear. As he puts it, ‘It’s all about respect now’.
Anderson Silva, like most of Jake Paul’s opponents, comes with an MMA background. However, this one is unique. MMA fans consider him a UFC legend since he held the middleweight title for 7 long years and had 16 title defenses. Also, he was one of the best strikers in the sport.
Jake Paul Says He Won’t Trash Talk And He Won’t Celebrate If He Beats Anderson Silva
Anderson Silva left the UFC in 2020 when his contract expired. Instead of expanding the deal, he decided to search for success elsewhere. Hence – the transition to boxing. He turned out to be successful at it, and now he will take on the YouTube star Jake Paul. The fight will be on the 29th of October.
Jake Paul, regardless of how more experienced Anderson Silva is, is confident that he can beat him. Furthermore, he insists that he won’t even celebrate if he gets the win by knockout ‘out of respect for him’.
‘I think people will be upset.” – Paul said of the scenario of him beating Silva.”But I feel like they’re already upset with me, I already knocked out Tyron Woodley and I already talked s*** to a lot of the guys there, so it’s definitely a love-hate relationship. I know I’m going to win so I’m not going to be a f***ing d***head and jumping up on the ropes and s*** after I win, it’s not like that. For me, that’s not what the fight’s about it’s about respect for the first time and hopefully, when I knock him out I can help him get off the canvas.”
Jake Paul had a little bit of a struggle with finding an opponent for himself for quite some time. His past two opponents cancelled on him at the last minute. Tommy Fury due to VISA issues, and Hasim Rahman Jr because of not making weight.
The Youtube star is coming off a victory over Tyron Woodley, and he is ‘fight-ready’ for more than a year. Now, finally, he will have his fight. After the Anderson Silva fight, Jake Paul agreed verbally on fighting his fellow Youtuber KSI. However, this is still uncertain since at the press conference last week he told reporters that KSI will need to ‘show him something’ so he can accept a fight. He continues by saying that he feels like he is on a higher level than KSI and he could show interest in the bout only if KSI proves himself first.
Sounding names from the boxing industry react to the agreed fight against Anderson Silva and they do not predict good things for Jake Paul. One of them is Eddie Hearn, the famous boxing promoter. He labels Jake as ‘unlucky’ for taking this fight.
“To defeat Anderson Silva, while boxing is still a very impressive part of his repertoire, he’s still not a boxer, and he’s 47 years of age.” – Eddie Hearn said about the matchup. “But he’s a tough guy, he has a huge profile, he can box, and I think he’ll be competitive. I don’t think he beats Jake, because I think Jake is young, and I think he can punch a bit, and I’m intrigued to watch, and I like what Jake’s doing. It’s kind of him against the world.”
Anderson Silva will be Jake Paul’s sixth opponent. If Jake wins, it will be his 6th professional win as well.
Anderson Silva is 20 years older than Jake Paul, however, that doesn’t make him less dangerous. He comes from a win over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, and from a knockout win over Tito Ortiz. Most certainly he still has the respect of his former UFC colleagues. Dana White himself says that Anderson Silva is one of his top 5 fighters that ever competed in the UFC.
Recently, Chuck Liddell, a UFC legend praised Anderson Silva for his boxing skills. He predicts a knockout win for Silva.
“I think it’s a dangerous fight for Jake.” – Chuck Liddell said of the fight. “I mean, he’s got nothing to lose – he’s fighting Anderson Silva. He’s got nothing to lose, but that’s dangerous. Anderson is still powerful, he’s still sharp, and he’s a striker. Jake had some good luck with guys that were wrestlers that tried to strike. … One thing is to have OK striking for MMA, but that’s because you have to worry about them taking you down. When you don’t have to worry about takedowns, then it’s hard to land those big bombs. But Anderson, he’s a striker and has been concentrating on boxing. He looked great in his last couple of fights.”
When Silva left the UFC, he wasn’t at his best. He lost 8 out of his 9 last bouts and that signaled that he is out of his prime. Due to this fact, people argue that he should have left the UFC earlier than he did.
“People want to see me lose and that’s what I built my career off of.” – Paul said at the press conference. “So I get it, I get the hate. And I’ve just had to establish myself and work hard in the gym. I mean, this could be a changing of the guard. Or you could win and, you know, silence the kid that everyone wants to be silenced, so I do think this is iconic in that sense. And you’re a f***ing legend, bro, and you’re good as s*** so it’s going to be a tough fight.”
What do you predict? Could Jake Paul win over Anderson Silva?
