The younger Paul brother might soon be adding another former UFC champion to his list of opponents. Controversial Youtube news streamer Keemstar reported that Jake Paul’s next fight will be set for October, and it would be against MMA legend and current professional boxer Anderson Silva.
Keemstar, who reports on influencers, previously said that Jake’s brother Logan Paul would fight Mike Tyson. While Tyson revealed that negotiations did take place, the fight didn’t pan out.
For what it’s worth, Paul and his company Most Valuable Promotions have been preparing fans for a fight announcement sometime this week, hinting that they’ve already secured a big name that’ll be the betting favorite in the match up.
“Jake Paul will almost certainly be the underdog,” Most Valuable Productions’ official account tweeted on Saturday. “He knows that and he wants that.
Next week we will announce JAKE PAUL’s next opponent. @jakepaul will almost certainly be the underdog. He knows that and he wants that.
— Most Valuable Promotions (@MostVpromotions) August 27, 2022
Just got the call.
Massive opponent announcement this week.
October
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) August 27, 2022
Silva and Paul have previously expressed interest in a matchup, with Paul even relating his time meeting Silva as a boy on the MMA Hour Podcast last January.
“I think he was the first celebrity I ever saw,” Paul told host Ariel Helwani. “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. 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.”
Retiring from MMA in 2020, Silva shocked the world by returning to boxing at the ripe age of 46. Securing a 1-1 record with a debut loss in 1998 and a win in 2005, few placed much hope in a career resurgence for the Spider. Despite facing a former WBC middleweight champion in Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, Silva earned a decision win with flashes of his lost prime shining through. He followed this with a TKO victory against fellow MMA legend and failed politician Tito Ortiz, bringing his record to 3-1. Today he’s still regarded as one of the greatest strikers the sport of MMA has ever seen, retiring with a 68% knockout rate and a record of 34-11.
Paul was initially scheduled to face both Hasim Rahman Jr and Tommy Fury, before weight troubles and visa issues torpedoed both matchups respectively. He sits at a 5-0 record, holding a knockout and a decision win over former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, and a KO over former Bellator Champion and UFC alumni Ben Askren. As it stands, only one of his fights has gone to the judges.