Jake Paul promoted his upcoming sixth professional match against MMA icon and former UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson “The Spider” Silva using some old footage of UFC president Dana White.
White has repeatedly ignored Paul’s request to fight Silva over the past year, although he has publicly dared Paul to challenge Silva on multiple occasions. White said at a press conference last week that if Paul ends up fighting Silva, it would be a “real fight.”
“If he’s [Paul] really fighting Anderson Silva, if that’s true? It’s about time,” White said. “He’s got a real fight on his hands. Regardless of how old Anderson is, that’s a real fight.”
“Now, I normally don’t agree with Dana White, but he is right. Anderson Silva is literally the greatest MMA fighter of all time and one of the most versatile fighters in the history of combat sports. He literally just schooled a world champion boxer in Julio ‘Captain Crunch’ Ceasar Jr. III,” Paul said.
Silva put his name on the map since his debut in the Ultimate Fighting Championship back in 2006 where he defeated Chris Leben at Ultimate Fight Night 5. Silva beat Leben by a knee strike at 49 seconds into the first round and recorded an 85% striking accuracy on his debut night.
Meanwhile, Paul aka “The Problem Child” is a YouTuber-turned boxer who has won five fights with TKO, including against former MMA champion Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley. He was scheduled to fight Hasim Rahman Jr. on August 6, but the match fell through after Rahman failed to maintain his weight.
Paul is set to fight Silva on October 29 at Gila River Arena in Arizona.
Paul as underdog
Paul’s upcoming fight has been considered a bold move, with many thinking that he would have a tough challenge against Silva. Paul himself said that Silva is a formidable opponent in the ring.
“Anderson Silva has been on a KO streak, knocking out Tito Ortiz, Bruno Machado, I mean, this guy is nasty in the ring,” Paul said.
“For me, this fight was supposed to be after Tommy Fury because I’ve never fought a southpaw and this is a much tougher fight. Every fight critic said I wouldn’t take this fight and if I did, I would lose to Silva.”
Unlike all of Paul’s previous opponents, Silva has more experience in boxing and had defeated former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who is an actual boxer. He later defeated Tito Ortiz with a knockout in the first round in an exhibition fight.
UFC commentator Joe Rogan said on his “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast that he liked the idea of Paul actually fighting Silva. Much like White, Rogan also agreed that Silva would be Paul’s sternest test to date.
“I love it,” Rogan said. “If Jake Paul really decides to fight Anderson, that’s a very, very, very tough fight.”
“Anderson, if he just went straight into boxing, would have been a f*cking world champion.”
However, despite many experts saying the odds would be more likely in Silva’s favor due to his skills and accomplishment, Paul was convinced that he still could walk out of the ring as the victor.
“It’s an absolute honor to be sharing the ring with such a legend like Anderson Silva. But only one of us can walk out as a winner, and I believe that’s going to be me,” Paul said.
As for Silva, he is looking forward to making a statement against Paul.
“I know that in life everything has its purpose,” Silva said.
“Nothing comes just by chance. So, I thank God for my health, my family and my team for providing me with this opportunity to continue doing the thing that I love the most. I believe this will be the biggest combat event of the year and will truly make history in the sport forever. See you on October 29.”