Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva: Press Conference, How to Watch, Everything to Know

Abraham Smith

Jake-Paul vs. Anderson Silva actually takes place. For real. Rumors had been circulating for weeks that negotiations for the fight were underway, but on Tuesday Paul made it official.

“My toughest test yet,” Paul said in a tweet. “I respect the legend, but he must be eradicated.”

After a glittering career with the UFC, Silva is arguably the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. At least he’s in the top five. Silva broke several records during his tenure as middleweight champion, but it’s the style with which he destroyed his opponents that made him legendary.

“I know that everything in life has a purpose,” Silva said in a statement sent to ESPN. “Nothing happens by accident. So I thank God for my health, my family and my team for giving me this opportunity to continue doing what I love most. I believe this will be the biggest fighting event of the year and will truly make history in sport forever.”

Is there a press conference?

Of course there is. No major martial arts event can happen without a wild press conference. But Paul hasn’t announced any two pressers next week in the US, live on Paul’s YouTube channel.

I wouldn’t expect anything overly noisy from these press conferences. Silva is a middle-aged man who doesn’t like talking trash. I would even expect Paul to treat Silva with a pinch of reverence and respect.

The first begins Monday, September 12 at 11:00 am PST.

When and where will the fight take place?

Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva is scheduled for October 29th. The fight takes place at the Gila River Arena in Phoenix.

Where can I watch?

Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva will be featured on Showtime PPV. Details are coming in, but the PPV event is scheduled to start at 9:00 p.m. ET.

Who is Anderson Silva?

As mentioned above, Silva is one of the greatest fighters in UFC history. After defeating Rich Franklin for the UFC Middleweight Title in October 2006, Silva held that title for a record 2,457 days. His unbeaten streak of 16 fights in the UFC is a record that still stands to this day.

But it was Silva’s fighting style that made him an icon. A flashy, elusive counter-attacker, he did things that felt impossible. Fighting with his hands down, landing fancy kicks, knees and punches from wild angles, Silva is essentially MMA’s Roy Jones Jr. For many he is the greatest martial artist who ever lived.

After finally losing his title to Chris Weidman in 2013, Silva had a tough losing streak that led to him leaving the UFC in 2020 at the ripe age of 45. Since then he has enjoyed a remarkable resurgence in boxing. Most notably, he outclassed former world champion Julio César Chávez Jr. in an eight-round boxing match.

Who is Jake Paul?

You probably know Paul, the social media personality who first made it big on Vine before moving on to all platforms in existence. He has transitioned into boxing in recent years after fighting on the undercard of brother Logan Paul’s viral boxing match with British YouTuber KSI. He showed a talent for boxing and has been fighting ever since.

Paul has also moved up the ranks and co-organized a major fight between Irish Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano which was one of the greatest female boxing matches of all time.

Is this a fair fight?

Paul has been picky about his opponents up until this point, which is smart. Each new fight is a step forward in the competition, but this one is unique for a number of reasons.

Size is perhaps the most important thing. Up to this point, every other Paul fight has been against a dramatically undersized fighter. Paul has a fighting weight of 190 pounds, but in his last fight he faced Tyron Woodley, who competed at 170 pounds in his UFC prime.

Silva was the UFC Middleweight Champion, fighting at 185 pounds. Not only that, he gained weight regularly to fight in the UFC light heavyweight division. Arguably his best performance of all time — a spectacular dismantling of former champion Forrest Griffin in 2009 — came in that 205-pound weight class.

Unlike Woodley, Silva also has boxing experience. Of late he has turned his focus to the sport and notched up some extremely impressive victories. Silva is also one of the deadliest forwards in MMA history.

But so is Silva 47 years old. That’s pretty old. Old in relation to martial arts. To be clear, he’s not a normal 47-year-old, but age is still a massive, massive factor.

I guess we’ll find out in October how much is a factor.

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