Jake Paul has forced Dana White to eat his words by announcing he will fight Anderson Silva despite the UFC boss insisting he would never do it.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer will end a near year-long absence from the ring on October 29 when he takes on Silva in Arizona in his first test against a boxer with a winning record. The 47-year-old is considered one of the greatest MMA fighters in history and appears to have had a rebirth in the boxing ring after leaving the UFC on a losing streak in 2020.
White and Paul have had an ongoing feud in which the 25-year-old has hit out at the UFC boss over fighter welfare issues such as pay and healthcare. In return, White has mocked Paul for his opponents including his former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and once-highly ranked Ben Askren, and insisted he would shy away from the challenge of Silva.
“Ladies and gentlemen it is time for the fight announcement you have all been waiting for and I usually have to sell my fights,” Paul said in an announcement video today. “I usually have to do all the work, but this time Dana White, Conor McGregor ’s dad, is promoting the fight for me, thank you.”
He then introduced a clip of White heaping praise on Silva, insisting that he may be the greatest athlete in the history of combat sports for his wins at the top level of both MMA and boxing. “We honestly need to start talking about this guy again as the GOAT [Greatest of All Time],” White said at a press conference a few months ago.
“He knocked Tito [Ortiz] out in 40 f***ing seconds, but he did to Tito exactly what should be done to Tito, knocking Tito out in 40 seconds is what should have happened in that fight. Anderson Silva beat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr at 46, forty-f***ing-six-years-old. He should be considered one of the greatest of all time possibly even the greatest of all time.
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Zuffa LLC)
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“It’ll be interesting to see what he does next and I f***ing guarantee you this, you ain’t going to see Jake Paul calling Anderson Silva out. That I f***ing promise you because he’s his size and he’s actually f***ing good, hey Jake, Anderson’s out. Jake? Jake? Jake?”
Paul proceeded to slam White for assuming that he wouldn’t take on Silva, who is his first southpaw opponent, as well as the first that he has faced with a height and reach advantage. “I normally don’t agree with Dana,” Paul responded. “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 Cesar Cap’n Crunch Chavez Jr III. Anderson Silva has been on a KO streaking knocking out Tito Ortiz, Bruno Machado [he dropped Machado but didn’t finish him in an exhibition bout]. This fight was supposed to be after Tommy Fury because I’ve never fought a southpaw and this is a much tougher fight.”
