After kicking off his boxing career with five soft touches, Jake Paul meets one of the most feared strikers in combat sports history tonight (Sat., Oct. 29, 2022) when he takes on Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) legend, Anderson Silva, inside Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE coverage of tonight’s PPV main card. The $59.99 FITE.tv / Showtime PPV kicks off at 9 p.m. ET, with Paul and Silva likely to make the walk closer to midnight.
Paul is coming off of consecutive wins over former UFC Welterweight champion, Tyron Woodley, the second one via crushing one-punch knockout (watch it). This marks his first in-ring appearance of 2022, as visa issues scrapped a grudge match with Tommy Fury and subsequent foe Hasim Rahman Jr. proved unable to make weight. As for Silva, he’s officially perfect (2-0) since returning to the sweet science, upsetting Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in hostile territory (watch highlights) and knocking fellow Octagon veteran, Tito Ortiz, into another dimension (see it again).
In divisionally meaningful action, 18-year-old Super Featherweight prospect Ashton Sylve steps up in class against Dominican puncher Braulio Rodriguez and capable Bantamweights Alexandro Santiago and Antonio Nieves attempt to settle unfinished business from a 2016 draw. In addition, Uriah Hall takes on Le’Veon Bell and Chris Avila opens the show against Dr. Mike Varshavski.
Paul Vs. Silva Quick Results:
Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva — Paul def. Silva via unanimous decision (77-74, 78-73 x2)
Ashton Sylve vs. Braulio Rodriguez — Sylve def. Rodriguez via technical knockout at 1:01 of Round One
Alexandro Santiago vs. Antonio Nieves — Santiago def. Nieves via retirement at 3:00 of Round Seven
Uriah Hall vs. Le’Veon Bell — Hall def. Bell via unanimous decision (40-36 x3)
Chris Avila vs. “Dr. Mike” Varshavski — Avila def. Varshavski via unanimous decision (40-36 x4) — HIGHLIGHTS
Jeremiah Milton vs. Quintin Sumpter — Milton def. Sumpter via knockout in round five
Ogleidis Suarez vs. Shadasia Green — Green def. Suarez via technical knockout (corner stoppage) in round five
Danny Barrios Flores vs. Edgar Ortiz Jr. — Flores def. Ortiz Jr. via knockout in round six
Adrian Rodriguez vs. Dominique Griffin — Rodriguez def. Griffin via unanimous decision (40-36, 40-36, 40-36)
Eliezer Silva vs. Anthony Hannah — Silva def. Hannah via knockout
Paul Vs. Silva Round-By-Round Updates:
185 lbs.: Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva
Round one: Paul flicking out jabs. Silva circling, parrying the jabs but not much else. He rolls with a lunging left. Paul to the body. Left hook attempt, right hand blocked. Halfway through. Silva yet to throw. Flurry backs Silva to the ropes. Body jabs. Counter left lands for Silva, his first shot of the fight. Clinch. 10-9 Paul.
Round two: Silva advancing, whiffs on a big lead left and ties up. Combo from SIlva around the guard. Silva on the attack. Combo from Paul, Silva rolls with it. Clinch. Silva pats Paul’s back in the clinch. Halfway through. Paul misses on a big overhand and left hook. Lots of showboating from Silva. Jabs from Paul, overhand right from Silva. Left hook in the corner by Silva into the clinch. Paul lands an overhand right, ties up when Silva advances. More taunting from Silva as Paul tries to punch in the clinch. 10-9 Silva. 19-19.
Round three: Jabs from Silva. Paul to the body, then a 2-3. Hard left cross by Silva and Paul clinches before he can follow up. Silva trying to open up on the ropes. Paul goes to the body, Silva stalks him across the ring with combinations. Uppercut to cuffing left. Paul left hook, whiffs on a 1-2 halfway through. Nice long right by Paul, then another. Paul ties up. Paul jab, Silva combination. Clinch. Paul swings big, can’t land clean. Tight left by Silva in the clinch. 10-9, 29-28 Silva.
Round four: Paul tries to flurry. Silva looks for a counter left, avoids a big swing. Both flicking out jabs. Paul body shot, 1-2 from Silva. Clean overhand right from Paul, who eats an overhand left and uppercut halfway through. Left hook by Paul. Silva backs him to the corner, clinch. Paul whiffs on a long left hook. Silva with a short combo, absorbs one in return, opens up at the bell. 10-9, 39-37 Silva.
Round five: Hard body shots from Paul in the early going. Silva continuing to stalk forward. He backs Paul to the ropes and opens up, landing on the break. Hard counter left by Silva, continuing to stalk. Trading inside. Hard Silva uppercut halfway through. Paul tries a 2-3. Jabbing off the ropes. Straight left and uppercuts land for Silva. Another heavy uppercut and he opens up in the corner. 10-9, 49-46 Silva.
Round six: Paul lands a right to the body. Looking to jab. Silva noogies Paul when he clinches. Paul swings hard inside, lands a few lefts. Halfway through. Low-high combo from Paul, cross-uppercut by Silva and some cuffing shots in the clinch. Silva tries to blitz, opens up in the corner. Paul with a left hook on the exit. Trading lefts. Silva cracks him with an uppercut inside and they trade on the ropes. Vicious right hands by Silva at the bell. 10-9, 59-55 Silva.
Round seven: Paul with a combination to the body. Jabs upstairs. Good lead right. More body work as Silva steadily advances. Silva whiffs on an overhand left. Nice low-high combo from Paul halfway through. Tight right hook by Silva. Paul body shot. Clinch. Good lead right by Paul. Short uppercuts by Silva. He backs Paul to the corner and opens up until Paul ties up. 10-9 Paul, 68-65 Silva.
Round eight: Silva marches in and starts unloading at close range. Paul fires a combo to the body, then follows with an overhand right that drops Silva. Low-high 2-1 by Paul. Overhand right. Counter left from Silva, Paul clinches. Halfway through. Paul firing overhand rights. Silva backs him to the corner and tries to open up. Heavy right hands from both. 1-1-2-2 by Silva. Two-piece from Paul, counter left from Silva. 10-8 Paul, 76-75 Silva.
Final result: Paul def. Silva by unanimous decision
130 lbs.: Ashton Sylve vs. Braulio Rodriguez
Round one: Silva takes the initiative. Body jabs from Rodriguez. He looks a lot smaller than Sylve in there. He lands a body shot and tries to follow up with a flurry, but gets clipped with a left hook coming in and hits the deck. Rodriguez very dramatically flops around, beats the count, looks forlorn, then gets pissed when the ref calls it. Well, that sucked.
Final result: Sylve def. Rodriguez by TKO
118 lbs.: Alexandro Santiago vs. Antonio Nieves
Round one: Trading jabs to start. Lead hook from Santiago. Solid jabs from Nieves. Another long string. Santiago answers in kind halfway through. 1-2 and body shot by Nieves. Trading jabs. Another right downstairs by Nieves, who slips. Santiago lands well on the ropes. Nice exchanges. Nieves digs a counter right downstairs. 10-9 Nieves.
Round two: Both pumping their jabs. Nieves with a two-piece downstairs. Again Nieves goes to the body against the ropes. Shovel hook. Cuffing right by Santiago in return halfway through. Santiago lands a lead hook. Nieves with an uppercut into the clinch. 1-2. Counter uppercut from Santiago, clinch. Nieves counter right. Double jab met by a Santiago left hook. Good trade in center right. Nieves with a nice left hook. 10-9, 20-18 Nieves.
Round three: Low-high 2-3 by Santiago. Trading jabs. Good Santiago uppercut and he hurts Nieves with an overhand right. Nasty combinations on the ropes. Clinch. Santiago staying aggressive. Good body shots. Lead right up top, clinch. Halfway through. Continuing to stalk and attack. Nieves trying to keep him away with the jab. Solid jabs, right hand behind them. Santiago rips a nice left hook downstairs, then a tight uppercut. Late left hooks. 10-9 Santiago, 29-28 Nieves.
Round four: Nieves continuing to lean on the jab. Santiago to the body. Trading jabs. Nieves looks for the body. Nieves jabs, Santiago body shot. Another. Nieves sneaks in a right downstairs. Halfway through. Nice counter right from Nieves. He’s managing distance quite well. Combo inside. Clubbing right. 1-1-2-body shot from Santiago. Shovel hook to 1-2. Lead right. Now Santiago getting some work done, rips the body. Solid sequence in the corner. Clinch. 10-9, 39-37 Nieves.
Round five: Back to the jab battle. Solid two-piece by Santiago, who walks into a counter right. More Nieves jabs and movement keeping Santiago away. Santiago opens up on the ropes. Clubbing shots. Pressure working for him and he’s opening up on the ropes. Halfway through. Left hook from Nieves. Santiago to the body, continuing to march forward. Lead hook, uppercut, body shot. More bullying by Santiago. Nieves counter right. Solid counters but can’t keep Santiago away. Hard shots by Santiago on the ropes. Clinch. 10-9 Santiago, 48-47 Nieves.
Round six: Double uppercut from Santiago, continuing to pressure. Nieves rips a nice body shot, tries to follow up to the head. Both land heavy rights. Nieves to the body. Shovel hook. Nice right hands by Santiago and a body shot behind them. Double right met by jabs from Nieves. Santiago chopping right. Halfway through. More right hands. Putting together combinations against the ropes, clinch. Santiago looks like he’s taken over, walking through the counters and finding a home for heavy flurries. Nieves firing back but getting the worst of it. More good exchanges. 10-9 Santiago, 57-57,
Round seven: Trading jabs in center right. Nieves putting together some power shots. Santiago absorbs a hard cross and Nieves follows up to the body. Good 2-1. Nieves controlling the round so far, attacks the body. More good jabs. Halfway through. There’s a combo from Santiago. 1-2, left hook. Nice body shots against the ropes and a chopping right. Hard left and right hooks. Santiago’s woken back up. Opening up against the ropes. Nieves counter right. Body shot. Nice 1-2-3. Body shot met by a Santiago cross. Clinch. Trading in the final seconds. 10-9, 67-66 Santiago.
Nieves’ corner calls it between rounds.
Final result: Santiago def. Nieves by retirement
195 lbs.: Uriah Hall vs. Le’Veon Bell
Round one: Bell jabbing the body, keeping his head low. Decent jabs, honestly. 3-2 from Hall. Hall continuing to push forward as Bell circles. Another 3-2 from Hall. More jabs by Bell. Halfway through. Crowd not happy as Hall plods after him. Double left by Hall, then a few more. More lefts landing. Thudding jabs. Bell lands a right to the body. Another hard jab by Hall. 10-9 Hall.
Round two: Hall looking a bit more impatient, pushing forward. Bell continuing to circle and jab. Nice chopping right by Hall. Overhand right from Bell. Left hook comes back at him. Hall 1-2. Bell to the body. Halfway through. Right cross by Hall. Bell uppercut and body shots. Three straight clubbing rights land for Hall, then a cross behind them. Stiff jab. Bell tries an overhand. Straight right lands. 10-9 Bell.
Round three: Good counter right from Hall. Straight right, clinch. Left hook. Clinch. Hall continuing to push forward, good 3-2 and avoids the return fire. Back to the body goes Bell. Halfway through. Long left from Hall kicks off a lengthy combo. Hall marching after him with combinations, shrugs off a counter. Solid right cross from Bell forces Hall back. Clinch. Trading inside. Good uppercut from Hall. 10-9 Hall.
Round four: Hall coming out aggressively. Clinch. Shoeshine flurry from Hall, trading inside. Stiff jab by Hall. Some ugly close-quarters trading. Solid cross by Bell halfway through. Both hit the body inside. Solid uppercuts from Hall. Hard lead right from Hall and he pours on the right hands until Bell ties up. Bell lands an uppercut inside. Doing a lot of clinching. They trade right hands inside. Hard combo by Hall. Big left hook and he’s looking for the finish. They end the fight slugging. 10-9 Hall.
Final result: Hall def. Bell by unanimous decision
185 lbs.: Chris Avila vs. Mike Varshavski
Round one: N/A
Round two: N/A
Round three: UFC only ended during the second round, so we’ll start here. Both look to jab. Avila overhand falls short. Decent body work. Varshavski moving decently well, eats a flurry and tries to answer in kind. Avila finding the mark with body shots. Varshavski lands one of his own, eats more flurries downstairs. Big overhand right stings Varshavski, who comes back with a straight right halfway through. Solid 1-2 from Avila. He advances, wings some shots. Varshavski to the body. Avila continuing to advance and land to the body. 1-2 in the corner, left hook on the exit. Nice left hook in the waning seconds. Varshavski tries a combo. 10-9 Avila.
Round four: Avila in full control, marching after Varshavski and throwing power shots with impunity. Clinch. Varshavski trying to load up and get some respect, gets cracked by a looping left. More body shots by Avila. Halfway through. Varshavski punching off the back foot to limited effect. Low-high 2-3 from Avila and he’s teeing off. Wading after Varshavski.Overhand right rattles Varshavski in the last 15 seconds and Avila rampages after him. 10-8 Avila even without a knockdown.
Final result: Avila def. Varshavski by unanimous decision
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