Liddell Picks Silva To KO Paul: ‘Good Luck To Jake’

We are six weeks away from a highly-anticipated boxing showdown between former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and social media influencer Jake Paul and the combat community is already picking sides.

Silva, who retired from MMA back in 2020, is scheduled to fight Paul on Oct. 29 live on Showtime pay-per-view (PPV) from Glendale, Arizona. It will be Silva’s third appearance inside of the boxing ring since his UFC departure and one of his most high-profile bouts in recent memory. That’s because Paul is a massive name in the sport of boxing right now and will throw enough promotion at this fight to make everyone involved very profitable.

Financials aside, Silva still has to step inside of the ring with a fighter who is 22 years younger and eager to finish a legend. It’s going to be interesting to see if Silva’s size and experience can finally put a stop to Paul’s growing boxing career. “Problem Child” hasn’t displayed elite skills inside of the ring throughout his five professional fights, but Paul is a solid puncher who is coming off a monstrous knockout win over Tyron Woodley in Dec. 2021.

Heading into Silva’s upcoming boxing match with Paul the combat community has voiced their opinions and most are siding with “Spider.” After all, Silva is one of the greatest strikers in MMA history and despite being 47 years of age he’s still competing at a high level. One of the more recent fighters to speak out in support of Silva is UFC legend Chuck Liddell, who believes Paul may be biting off more than he can chew.

“I think it’s a dangerous fight for (Jake),” Liddell told Fight Hub TV. “I mean, he’s got nothing to lose – he’s fighting Anderson Silva.

“He’s got nothing to lose, but that’s dangerous. Anderson is still powerful, he’s still sharp, and he’s a striker. Jake had some good luck with guys that were wrestlers that tried to strike. … One thing is to have OK striking for MMA, but that’s because you have to worry about them taking you down. When you don’t have to worry about getting taken down, then it’s hard to land those big bombs. But Anderson, he’s a striker and has been concentrating on boxing. He looked great in his last couple of fights.”

As far as an official prediction for the fight, Liddell is picking Silva to win by knockout. “Iceman” respects Paul for accepting the fight and continuing to compete inside of the boxing ring, but Liddell believes Silva will be too much.

“I think he wins, I think he knocks him out,” Liddell said. “But hey, man, I’m interested to see it. Good luck to Jake. The kid is fighting. He goes out there and really fights. You have to respect that.”