Former UFC light heavyweight title chaser, Anthony Smith has urged viewers and fans to boycott future fights featuring undefeated professional boxer, Jake Paul, lambasting the Ohio native for continually fighting Octagon veterans.
Headlining a card in Arizona over the course of last weekend, Paul improved to 6-0 as a professional, defeating former undisputed UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva in a unanimous decision effort – dropping the Brazilian with a right hand in the eight round.
The outing marked Paul’s first since December of last year, where he defeated former UFC welterweight champion, Tyron Woodley with a sixth round knockout in the pair’s rematch.
Prior to that, Paul had defeated St. Louis veteran, Woodley in a split decision win last year to boot – which followed hot on the heels of a devastating first round knockout win over former Bellator and ONE championship gold holder, Ben Askren.
Anthony Smith unleashes tirade on the undefeated, Jake Paul
Taking umbrage with Paul’s choice of opponents during the early stages of his boxing tenure, Anthony Smith, who previously challenged for UFC gold in the past, urged onlookers to boycott the former’s fights in the future.
“If Jake Paul beats Anderson Silva, we should all f*cking boycott the rest of his fights until he f*cking fights some that are on his level, or whatever level we deem him to be on,” Anthony Smith said during an appearance on Believe You Me ahead of Paul’s win over Silva. “You all talk sh*t about MMA fighters, you talk sh*t about UFC and then you pretend that you want to bring fighters up, and you want everyone to get paid better, but then you trash everyone every time they fight.”
Most recently competing in July, Smith suffered a leg fracture against Magomed Ankalaev – suffering a TKO loss after embarking on a three-fight winning spree which includes finishes over Ryan Spann, Jimmy Crute, and Devin Clark.