Jake Paul praises Anderson Silva: ‘He showed that MMA strikers are also great boxers’

Jake Paul has trashed many mixed martial artists, but Anderson Silva isn’t one of them.

Silva picked up a split decision win over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on main card of Tribute to the Kings in Guadalajara, Mexico last Saturday. Paul was impressed in Silva’s abilities inside the ring.

“Anderson’s 46 years old, and I thought he did an incredible job. He was sticking and moving, bouncing around the ring, having fun, was throwing combos,” Paul told TMZ Sports. “He’s long and lanky and to come in there and beat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who’s what, like over 50 wins in the ring? Is a world champion. This just goes to show that MMA strikers are also great boxers, and I think a lot of people forget that. That is the first skill that MMA fighters learn if they’re going to learn how to fight, is boxing. So I thought he looked amazing.”

Paul has his next fight lined up, a bout against former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley on Aug. 28 on Showtime pay-per-view. He’d like Silva to compete on the same fight card and left the door open to the possibility of facing Silva in the ring sometime down the road.

“Anything is possible,” Paul said. “I didn’t initially think of that, but my saying is ‘Anyone, any time, any place.’ But I think it’ll be more interesting to see Anderson Silva fight Roy Jones Jr. on my undercard, which is what I originally tweeted out there because he beat one legendary boxer, let’s see if he can beat another legendary boxer. Maybe there’s a fight for us down the road. I think there’s talks about him maybe fighting against my brother (Logan Paul). But Anderson’s a nice guy, and I respect him as a legend.”

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(Courtesy of TMZ Sports)