Jake Paul responds to claims that Anderson Silva fight was rigged
The YouTube star outpointed Silva on Saturday after dropping the UFC legend in the final round
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jake Paul has hit out at the ‘stupidity’ of people claiming that his win against Anderson Silva was rigged.
The YouTube star outpointed Silva, 47, in Arizona on Saturday after dropping the UFC legend in the final round, moving to 6-0 as a professional boxer in the process.
Some fans on social media have claimed that the fight was staged – an accusation that Paul, 25, has dismissed.
“I lose faith in my generation and my peers, and us as a society and a world when I see that type of stuff and that type of stupidity,” Paul said on The MMA Hour.
“It just sucks. It sucks because I worked so hard for this. I dedicate everything, sacrifice everything, every single day, bust my b***s, have a 15-person team working around the clock to help me become the best boxer possible, and when I do something like beating Anderson Silva, they try to take it away from me. But I know deep down, and I guess that’s all that really matters.”
The American was a unanimous-decision winner against Brazilian Silva, who is seen by many as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time.
“I think smart people with intelligence are giving me props and respect,” Paul said. “Like the WBC President [Mauricio Sulaiman] saying that anyone who says Jake is not a real boxer is just bitter and is a hater; people like Teddy Atlas showing me mad respect, a lot of fighters showing me mad respect, a lot of MMA guys texting me saying, ‘You look really sharp, that was the best you’ve fought;’ Ryan Garcia showing me respect.
“So, the smart people who I care about are showing that love. There are the people who will always be there in my career who are discrediting it. Now they’re saying it was rigged. It went from, ‘Jake’s going to get knocked out by Anderson,’ to, ‘Oh, that was rigged.’”
Paul has expressed interest in taking on UFC icon Nate Diaz in the boxing ring next, or world champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments