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In one of the most anticipated fights of the year on Saturday, Paul defeated former UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva, by unanimous decision for the biggest success of his boxing career. Jake Paul is accustomed to facing criticism, and his most recent victory over Anderson Silva is no exception.
Paul made an appearance on The MMA Hour to discuss his most significant victory. Paul is still processing his monumental victory a few days later.
“It’s still pretty crazy to me, beating one of the greatest combat strikers of all time,” Paul told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “I’m just proud of myself. I’m proud I was able to execute everything we worked on in the gym. This is the first fight where everything was slowed down for me, and I was able to really, really handle the moment really well and execute the game plan perfectly. I felt really comfortable in there, and here we are. It’s unbelievable, it’s surreal. I can’t believe I actually pulled it off, but I’m very proud of myself.”
Paul added a finishing touch to his victory by submitting Silva with a short right hand in the final round of the fight, in addition to outworking Silva throughout eight rounds. Although the knockout made it clear who had won the fight, for the most part, it also sparked suspicions that it had been "fixed" by conspiracy theorists.
"I lose faith in my generation and my peers, and us in a society in a world just when I see that type of stuff and that type of stupidity. Yeah, it just sucks. It sucks because I work so hard for this. I dedicate everything. Sacrifice everything every single day... bust my b*lls... Have a 15-person team working around the clock helping me become the best boxer possible. And when I do something like beating Anderson Silva, yeah, they try to take it away from me, but I know deep down, and I guess that really matters."
Even though Paul probably still faces some naysayers, Silva was a significant step up in opposition. It demonstrated how hard the YouTube celebrity works to become a better boxer. Paul acknowledged that the outcome would have been very different if the battle had taken place a year earlier.
Despite the result, some fans remained dubious about the former YouTuber's skills and the veracity of his fights. It makes sense to believe that a fighter with the reputation of "The Spider" should triumph just based on his combat background. But the judges felt it was a one-sided battle, therefore that wasn't the case.
Boxer Tommy Fury, who also made an appearance on The MMA Hour, was one of 'The Problem Child's doubters. Silva's advanced age was cited by Fury as a consideration.
"Please, look what a 48-year-old man has done with him... He looked like he'd been in there fighting with the WBC light heavyweight champion. He looked gone like he went through the trenches in that fight. He got roughed up and that's a 48-year-old man."