News

Jake Paul Knocks Down Anderson Silva On Way To Unanimous Decision

Written by Kerr Ferguson on 30th October 2022.

Jake Paul beats Anderson Silva

Jake Paul built on his win streak against retired MMA veteran, Anderson Silva, in Arizona on Saturday night.

Silva topped Paul in height, reach, and, most importantly for some, age. In fact, the hype was dampened slightly by the Arizona commission calling an emergency meeting in the days before the event to determine whether or not the 47-year-old was fit to enter the ring. The action went ahead.

After throwing one punch in round 1, albeit the best one, Silva came out firing in the second and put on a show for the fans. He got low into his spider stance, told Paul ‘don’t hold me’ and invited him on to fight.

In the third, both had success. Paul’s wild overhand right found a home on a few occasions Silva returned to his corner with his nose bloodied. There was a lot of fighting in the clinch and Paul looked more technical than he has before, landing combinations in between visibly loading up power shots.

At the halfway stage, Paul was gulping for air in the corner whilst the man almost double his age looked casual. Still, the young man’s engine didn’t fail him. The fifth round was surely the Brazilian’s, his uppercut the star of the show and something Paul seemed incapable of defending. It did, however, display some good punch resistance that we haven’t really had a chance to see before.

The vet seemed to take most of round 6 off but finished it by snapping the young man’s head back with – you guessed it – an uppercut. Still, Paul took the round through action alone and seemed to want the win much more.

Round 7 was the same story. Fans grumbled slightly at the slow start, Paul landed some big shots, and Silva got into gear too late. The fighters came out to applause in the eighth and final round.

Silva came out swinging and perhaps showed the reason why he had been less than keen to do so – he was dropped in the first minute by a short right hand from Paul. His recovery was quick and he saw the final bell. There was some nice respect paid by both men in the aftermath.

Unanimous scorecards read 77-74, 78-73, and 78-73. The response will likely be the same as it has been after Jake Paul’s other five fights – his fans will say he’s beaten a combat sports legend, his detractors will say that he’s still not fought a boxer.

The young man from Cleveland knows that’s what they’re saying, and he’s fine with it. He welcomes it. He called out MMA fighter Nate Diaz and then boxing superstar Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez in the next breath.

The Jake Paul train rolls on.