Chael Sonnen gives fans an inside look into the upcoming boxing match between jake Paul and Anderson Silva.
Chael Sonnen found himself in an unusual situation last week. The former UFC fighter turned MMA analyst/media member was called in to mediate the press conference between Jake Paul and Anderson Silva. Many might be surprised that Sonnen was called in considering his history with Anderson Silva. Sonnen and Silva fought each other at UFC 148 and had some bad blood between the two of them at the time. Sonnen sat down for an exclusive interview with MiddleEasy to discuss how he got involved in this fight and the press conference, to begin with.
“You don’t play with Anderson, and for Jake Paul to go, I mean, it was somewhere within the pandemic, so somewhere recently, and I even watched it, for Jake Paul to fight some guy that was known for dunking basketballs and he goes from that guy in a short period of time to the GOAT. I just think that it’s a very honorable thing,” he explained. “If a guy is serious, if a guy is sincere, if a guy is going to come over to a sport and in this case, it happens to be boxing and he’s making a mockery of it. That’s really gonna bother people. But I mean, those days are behind us. That conversation is behind us. He is going to fight Anderson Silva, there is a respect and honor and he deserves credit for it.”
Jake Paul has become one of the most famous boxers in the world. Getting a start out as a child actor and YouTuber he is now pulling in millions of dollars for his fights. Sonnen touches on Jake Paul’s popularity, his rise in success in boxing, and how he feels the boxing community is reacting to such a strange new star in the sport.
“The boxing community is scared to death. That a 25-year-old is going to step in and be able to beat people and he’s already beaten World Champions he’s already knocked out world champions,” he said. “And that’s where that comes from. They don’t really care that Anderson is 46 years old they’re trying to take away from Jake before and they’ve been doing that to Jake from Jump Street.”
Chael Sonnen gives his prediction for Paul vs. Silva
“Anderson’s really good, but one thing that people miss is he’s also very tough. In this sport or in any sport, you don’t have to be. You can be a champion just by being more technically proficient than everyone else, or you can do it by having more grit and pushing harder, right, they call the Justin Gaethje approach,” he said. “But Anderson’s both and people miss that. If I was to use MMA terms, you go show me a fifth round and he was the king of the five rounders. I mean, he was in a five-round fight his second match into the UFC and his last match, he was the main event. He’s the king of the five rounder, you gonna show me a fifth round that Anderson Silva lost. Anderson Silva holds up. People always miss his grit. They miss what a competitor, he is and I think that’s gonna be on display. I think that Jake is gonna fight him though. I think Jake is gonna walk right out there and go for it.”
Jake Paul will be taking on Anderson Silva on October 30 live from The Gila River Arena in Phoenix, Arizona.
