LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 07: Jake Paul talks to the media ahead of the fight between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano at The Leadenhall Building on February 07, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
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Rumors of a boxing match between Jake Paul and Anderson Silva have spread across social media.
Jake Paul’s next opponent may be one of the greatest mixed martial artists ever.
On Aug. 29, DramaAlert founder Keemstar reported that a fight between Anderson Silva and Paul will be announced sonn. Paul similarly teased news of a “massive opponent announcement” on Twitter.
Coming off a knockout win over former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, Paul (5-0) is no stranger to facing retired MMA veterans. In April 2021, Paul defeated former Bellator and ONE champion Ben Askren with a controversial TKO stoppage.
However, as opposed to facing former mixed martial artists with a predominant wrestling base, Paul would instead be facing arguably the greatest MMA striker of all time.
At 47 years old, Silva (3-1) has taken to profitable boxing matches, most recently defeating former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz in Sep. 2021. Silva knocked out Ortiz in the first minute of the match.
Regardless of his age, Silva has shown he still wields the tools to incapacitate his opponents in the ring. In June 2021, Silva defeated former WBC middleweight champion Julio César Chávez Jr. by split decision.
Despite being a probable underdog, Paul has been looking forward to a matchup with Silva for quite some time
“I would love that fight. Interesting story, I think he was the first celebrity I ever saw. Right when MMA was blowing up, my dad was a super big fan and we went to this local MMA event and they must have paid Anderson Silva to come because it was in Ohio so I don’t know why he would have been there, but I actually asked for his autograph and we took a picture with him,” Paul said in an interveiw with Ariel Helwani. “I’m maybe like 12 years old but I think he was the first celebrity that I met. So it would be fun to bring it back full circle and fight someone who was one of my first idols.”
So, the answer is maybe. Nothing is official until either the promotion or one of the fighters makes an announcement but it’s looking like that might be the best option for Paul.
