Jake Paul Defeats Anderson Silva by Unanimous Decision

In his sixth professional boxing match, Jake “The Problem Child” Paul has defeated mixed martial arts legend Anderson “The Spider” Silva to remain undefeated. Silva is the third former UFC fighter that Paul has bested in the boxing ring, his résumé including knockouts of Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley.

The 47-year-old MMA icon represented himself well in the match and proved that he was still a very technical and creative striker. Silva’s movement was excellent and he could handle the shots when Paul was able to connect. He also landed a number of nice uppercuts from the clinch and used feints to set up punches from distance. He even showed off some vintage mind games that any MMA enthusiast would love to see from The Spider.

However, Silva did not have enough volume and power to defeat Paul. The social media superstar landed clean body shots in multiple rounds and was able to connect cleanly more consistently. In the eighth round, Paul put an exclamation point on the bout with a massive knockdown that brought the entire Arizona crowd to their feet. Silva was able to recover and bring the match to a decision, but the judges recognized the skills of Paul and rewarded him with a unanimous decision win. After the fight, Silva told Ariel Helwani that even he thought the judges got it right and that Paul was the rightful winner, an outstanding display of sportsmanship and respect from a true martial artist.