Anderson Silva hopes combat sports fans can, at least, tip their caps to Jake Paul for stepping in to face Anthony Joshua later this month.
Silva, one of the greatest fighters in MMA history and a former,
longtime UFC middleweight champion, is facing Tyron Woodley on the same card as the Paul vs. Joshua heavyweight matchup on Dec. 19 in Miami, streaming exclusively on Netflix. “The Spider” shared the squared circle with Paul in August 2022, with Paul winning a competitive decision.
Despite winning most of his fights, Silva doesn’t understand why Paul gets a bad rap from fans, but believes most of the negativity should go away now that he’s facing Joshua.
“Well, when you go inside the ring, everybody has a chance,” Silva told MMA Fighting. “And I respect Jake a lot because Jake proves for every single person how he’s ready for a fight. He’s a real fighter, and people start talking a lot of bad things about Jake because, ‘Oh, Jake do this and that, Jake never fight with a real fighter.’
“So now, these people can’t say nothing because Jake [is set to] fight with the big and giant and amazing fighter, and amazing boxer. What are the people going to say now?”
Paul was initially scheduled to face Gervonta Davis in an exhibition bout in November, but a sexual assault lawsuit filed against Davis led Most Valuable Promotions to postpone the event and seek out a new opponent for Paul. Coincidentally, the promotion needed to find a new opponent for Silva, who was slated to face past two-time UFC opponent Chris Weidman on the November card, but an injury scratched Weidman from the bout.
Silva still gets to compete on the same card as Paul and will see “Problem Child” compete as a massive underdog against Joshua. Silva hopes — win, lose, or draw on Dec. 19 — that Paul will get more respect from the boxing community.
“Of course, maybe Jake loses, the people say, ‘Oh, I knew it, it’s not a real fight,’” Silva said. “So wait a minute: Jake is not the same weight class as your opponent, but Jake comes inside the ring and fights with [one of the] best fighters in boxing.
“So what are you talking about with Jake? I think nobody can talk about Jake if Jake is doing his own job and respect your opponents, and do the best job. And I respect Jake a lot.”
