Jake Paul Outfights Anderson Silva For Decision Win

He had to work for it, but Youtube/social media star turned up and coming cruiserweight fighter Jake Paul remained undefeated Saturday night scoring an eight round unanimous decision over UFC Legend Anderson Silva in Glendale, Arizona.

Paul sealed his decision win with an 8th round knockdown of Silva on his way to a victory of 77 – 74 on two cards and 78 – 73 on the 3rd.

🤫🤫🤫@jakepaul stays undefeated with a UD win over Silva.#PaulSilva pic.twitter.com/ktvu3VYxEq

— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) October 30, 2022

The main event bout for Showtime pay-per-view and MVP Promotions delivered on drama as the 47-year-old Silva, who previously defended the UFC middleweight crown for 16 defenses, slugged it out with the 25 year old Paul for much of the bout.

However, overall Paul was the busier of the two fighters with his jab out-landing Silva 30 – 13 and also to the body at 31 – 13 for the eight rounds according to Showtime’s punch stats.

Silva Showed Heart In Defeat

Still, Silva should be commended, as even in his late 40s, he hung with the younger Paul and was still throwing combinations along the ropes in the late rounds. The difference was Paul was landing the more impactful shots, including a hard right that dropped Silva on to his backside less than a minute into the final round. The Brazilian wasn’t seriously hurt and Paul wasn’t able to finish him, although he landed a couple of more significant punches before the final bell.

“It’s a surreal moment. Hard work pays off,” Paul told Showtime in the ring. “I want to say thank you to Anderson. He was my idol growing up. He inspired me to be great….without him we wouldn’t have had a fight this year. He’s a tough ‘MoFo’ like for real, a legend.

He took so many hard shots throughout the whole fight. Dude is a real ‘dog.’ You see what happens to everyone else that gets hit with that sh*t.

I just wanted it more. I’m a real ‘dog’ and I left it all in the ring.”

The Ohio native Paul, a former Hollywood actor for a time, improved to 6-0, 4 KOs on his young career. The fight was his first, since he destroyed former UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley with a big right hand in the sixth round of their rematch last December in Tampa, FL.

What’s Next For Paul?

Eariier in 2022, Paul wanted to fight English cruiserweight Tommy Fury, the half brother of WBC heavyweight champ Tyson Fury, but he pulled out of their scheduled bout for a second time about a month before it was to have happened. And, then his next choice opponent, heavyweight Hasim Rahman Jr., could not meet the weight loss requirements by the deadline just a week before they were to have fought in early August at Madison Square Garden. So, Paul and his team called the fight off.

Then, Paul reloaded with the UFC legend Sliva, whom he grew up idolizing and delivered a good performance to keep his career on the upward trajectory.

For his part Silva took Paul’s best punches and fought through a bloody nose from the fifth round on. He told Showtime post fight, “That’s the game. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose, but nothing changes in my life. I’ll continue training hard.”

Silva had won a couple of boxing matches over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. by easy decision and Tito Ortiz by devastating KO that got him into position to fight Paul. And, he vowed to continue to box on after Saturday night.

Meanwhile, Paul repeated that he’s willing “to fight anyone, anytime, anywhere,” but he will need to step up the credibility of fighting actual boxers to have hardcore fans of the sport largely embrace him.

But, one other key is that Paul brings a massive social media following that translated into over 14,500 tickets being sold for the arena about 30 minutes from downtown Phoenix. And, his star power online coupled with continuing to win fights will only help that.