Jake Paul improved to 4-0 as a pro boxer after icing Tyron Woodley in their rematch on Dec. 18, 2021 (see it here). Afterward, “The Problem Child” went on a crusade to call out several Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters, chief among them Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal.
But calling out fighters under UFC contract is an obvious dead end because, well, they are under contract and unless you are Conor McGregor, Dana White is not about to let them out of their contracts for a one-off boxing match.
And that’s just why Chris Weidman is hoping Paul shifts his focus to a legit striker that is not bound by a UFC contract. And it’s someone “All American” knows all too well.
“I would love to see him fight Anderson Silva,” Weidman said on “Won’t Back Down” podcast (via MMA Junkie). “He’s calling out all these fighters with UFC contracts. I don’t think he’s really – none of those are really going to happen at this point.
“The UFC would have to get behind it almost like a Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather type match. But unless you’re drawing in $500 million like the Mayweather and Conor McGregor fights were doing, the UFC’s not doing that because they want to split it. They would split it, but if it’s not that type of money, they’re not doing it. So (we’re) wasting our time even talking about (Nate) Diaz, (Jorge) Masvidal and (Kamaru) Usman.”
Silva has experience in the boxing world, earning a 3-1 record as a pro including a huge win over former WBC Middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. “The Spider” was most recently starching Tito Ortiz in just 80 seconds in September (highlights).
While Silva — now 46 years old — is not the same fighter he was while his epic run as UFC 185-pound champion, he does have the striking technique that could give Paul his toughest test to date…right?