Jake Paul is boxing Anderson Silva at his UFC Championship weight for the bragging rights

Jake Paul and Anderson Silva are scheduled to box on October 29 at Gila River Arena, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. Jake Paul would move to 187 lbs to compensate for a request made by UFC legend. Silva is a UFC legend who mainly competed at middleweight (185lbs) throughout his MMA career.

Silva is one of the greatest icons UFC has ever seen. His UFC middleweight championship reign lasted for more than seven years and cemented his place among atop MMA Mount Rushmore.

Silva made a move to boxing last year and continued his combat sports legacy there with a 3-0 record. Silva is Paul’s first southpaw opponent and the only one with similar stature.

Although Paul was expecting to box at 190-200lbs range Silva’s team requested a fight at 187 lbs which Paul wholeheartedly accepted.

Paul explained in an interview with ESPN,

“The plan is for me to fight at 185lb going forward and that’s what I wanted this fight at given it was the weight Anderson Silva fought at during his reign as the most dominant UFC champion ever.”

“Anderson’s team asked if we could set the weight at 187, two pounds more than what I wanted. That level of professionalism and precision is appreciated, and of course I agreed to his request.”

He accepted the weight limit to give respect to his combat sports idol. He said,
“Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva is the most versatile fighter the world has ever seen. Just a year ago he outclassed boxing champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and showed the world why he is often referred to as the greatest fighter of all time.”

“Every expert, from MMA to boxing, has said Jake Paul won’t fight Anderson Silva. They said Jake Paul is afraid of Anderson Silva, and Jake Paul would lose to Anderson Silva. Well, to all the non-believers – Jake Paul is fighting Anderson Silva. It’s an honour to have the opportunity to share the ring with the greatest UFC striker of all time. On Saturday, October 29, I will walk humbly into the ring, touch gloves with a living legend and do my best to exterminate ‘The Spider’.” He further added.

Paul cancelled the boxing bout with Hasim Rahman Jr because of a weight issue. October 29 will be an exciting day considering that both Silva and Paul were trending on twitter for all of yesterday.