Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva? That’s a REAL fight

Scheduled for October 29 at Gila River Arena in Phoenix, Arizona and broadcast live on Showtime PPV, Paul-Silva will be contested at the 187 lb. limit over eight rounds. It’ll be the 25-year-old Paul’s sixth professional boxing match and the 47-year-old MMA legend’s fifth professional boxing match, but his third following the end of his Hall of Fame UFC career.

“It is official,” Paul announced via social media video on Tuesday. “Me vs. Anderson Silva, October 29, Phoenix, Arizona. It is an honor to be in there with the legendary Anderson Silva, although I’m gonna knock him out in under five rounds.”

“Yeah, it’s true,” Silva also announced via video post. “Jake and I have a fight October 29 in Phoenix, Arizona. Showtime, yes, that’s so special…I’m so happy…Let’s do it!”

People are legitimately stoked for this fight, and they actually should be. In the larger boxing world, this one obviously won’t be a Spence-Crawford and it surely won’t measure up as a “great” fight in the historical boxing sense. But how many fights between pros with single-digit professional experience could generate the kind of heat and intrigue this one will?

YouTuber and social media influencer, Paul, will be coming into this fight with a 22-year age advantage, but will be at a disadvantage in every other way. Although Brazil’s Silva is short on actual pro boxing bouts, he has legitimate high-end boxing skills, which he brought into the UFC octagon and used to establish himself as one of the very best to ever compete in the mixed martial arts organization. Just last year, he decisioned former boxing world champ Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and then knocked out fellow retired UFC star Tito Ortiz in 40 seconds.

“I love it. If Jake Paul really decides to fight Anderson, that’s a very, very, very tough fight,” Joe Rogan recently said on his podcast, as rumors of the fight swirled. “Jake Paul is one of the smartest marketers the sport has ever seen and he can fight…People think he’s this YouTube guy and he can’t fight– look at the way he knocked out Tyrone Woodley– come the f**k on! I’ve said this multiple times…if that guy was just a boxer and you’d never known anything about his YouTube background, and you saw him knock out Tyrone Woodley with one shot, you’d be like ‘Holy Sh*t, there’s this new guy coming up and he’s a bad motherfuc*er!’”

Even Paul’s bitter archenemy, UFC bossman Dana White, who once guaranteed that Paul would never call Silva out, had to praise Paul-Silva.

“I don’t give a sh*t, but, if he’s really fighting Anderson Silva, if he’s really fighting Anderson Silva, if that’s true, it’s about time,” White told media. “He’s got a real fight on his hands there, regardless of how old Anderson is. That’s a real fight.”

Since the announcement, Jake Paul has been equal parts brash and respectful to the legendary Silva, who White once said could be the GOAT of combat sports.

“Every expert, from MMA to boxing, has said Jake Paul won’t fight Anderson Silva,” Paul said in a statement issued to media. “They said Jake Paul is afraid of Anderson Silva, and Jake Paul would lose to Anderson Silva. Well, to all the non-believers – Jake Paul is fighting Anderson Silva. It’s an honor to have the opportunity to share the ring with the greatest UFC striker of all time. On Saturday, October 29, I will walk humbly into the ring, touch gloves with a living legend and do my best to exterminate ‘The Spider.'”