Jake Paul is set to return to the ring in October
Jake Paul is set to confirm his next opponent will be
UFC legend Anderson Silva.
YouTuber Keemstar revealed that the 25-year-old will take on the Brazilian in October after Paul recently teased that he had a "massive announcement" on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/jakepaul/status/1563650857803173889
The fight will be the sixth of Paul's professional boxing career and his toughest to date as it is against an opponent with an official boxing record.
Paul has previously fought fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib, former NBA star Nate Robinson and now-retired MMA champions Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley.
It will also be Paul's first fight of the year after previous bouts against Tommy Fury and Hasim Rahman Jr fell through. Fury was denied entry to the US, which led to Paul choosing Rahman Jr as a replacement, but that was also postponed following a disagreement over the weight limit.
Silva, 47, is largely known for his career in the UFC but chose to leave in 2020 and make the switch to boxing. He has had four professional fights, winning three and losing one, with his only defeat coming in his debut almost 20 years ago.
'The Spider' fought twice last year and beat former middleweight world titleholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in his first boxing fight in 15 years before knocking out another ex-UFC star, Tito Ortiz, in just over a minute.
Silva is regarded as one of the all-time greats in UFC and went unbeaten in eight years during the prime of his career and holds the record for the longest title reign (2457 days) and longest winning streak at 16 fights.
Paul's latest opponent is also unlikely to underestimate the American, with Silva previously hinting at going head-to-head in the ring with Jake, or his brother Logan.
"People need to respect the Paul brothers," he told
Sports Illustrated "Those kids are talented, and they’ve opened people’s eyes about the good and bad in combat sports. I’m preparing my body for a challenge. We’ll see what happens."
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