Anderson Silva had nothing but nice things to say about Jake Paul.
Silva’s most recent fight came in a unanimous decision loss to Jake Paul in the boxing ring in 2022. Now, the pair will share the same card when Silva laces up the gloves against Tyron Woodley, and Paul takes on his biggest challenge yet against Anthony Joshua on Dec. 19. The event takes place at Kaseya Center in Miami and will stream live on Netflix.
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With Paul facing a former two-time unified heavyweight champion in Joshua, Silva says you can’t not credit “The Problem Child.”
“I respect Jake a lot because he’s changed the game,” Silva told TMZ Sports. “A lot of people are talking about Jake, and the problem is a lot of people know, but lazy people, and the people that don’t have the courage to do the same job that Jake doing start saying bullish*t about Jake.
“But the difference between these people and Jake is Jake has balls and goes inside the ring and prove, and deep working hard every day to make something and help a lot of fighters to prove your point and respect the sport. The people don’t give the credit for Jake, and the people need to do that. I respect Jake. He’s a real fighter.”
Paul is coming off back-to-back wins over Mike Tyson and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to extend his winning streak to six. He was initially scheduled to face WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis in an exhibition bout, but it was later canceled due to legal issues from Davis’ side.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC legend says people don’t give Jake Paul credit he deserves
