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On October 29, Anderson Silva will clash with the face of the influencer boxing world, Jake Paul. A former YouTuber whose career included a two-season stint as Dirk Mann on the Disney Channel show Bizaardvark, Jake Paul has emerged as one of the most divisive figures in the realm of combat sports.
Countless UFC fighters have expressed their displeasure over Paul's presence, claiming that the income the 25-year-old earns is an insult compared to the lower pay earned by mixed martial artists and boxers who have dedicated their entire lives to combat sports. Furthermore, many fighters are incensed by Paul's continued callouts of established MMA fighters.
Many have also called into question Paul's choice of opponents as he has only ever faced foes who are significantly smaller than him. Even after he defeated former MMA world champions Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley, much was made about the two fighters being older wrestlers with poor striking and smaller frames.
Calls for Paul to face an actual boxer were seemingly answered when he agreed to a matchup with Tyson Fury's younger brother, Tommy Fury. Unfortunately, the bout collapsed, forcing Paul to face former foe Tyron Woodley in a rematch. A second attempt at booking a matchup with Fury was made later, yet it fell through again, as did the subsequent bout with Hasim Rahman Jr.
Finally, an opponent was found for the influencer. Anderson Silva is known for his dazzling striking, recently defeating former world champion boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. Taking certain variables into consideration, this list details five reasons why Anderson Silva will defeat Jake Paul when both men meet in the squared circle next month.
#5. Anderson Silva's counter to the jab
Jake Paul's entire game is built around the jab. He consistently uses it as a distance-measuring tool. This is a classic use of the jab. If a fighter can touch their opponent with their jab, then they're within range to land their right cross or right overhand. This is exactly what Jake Paul does as he builds off of his jab while benefitting from his superior height and length to avoid being counterpunched by his opponents.
Unfortunately, Paul's arsenal does not consist of much else. Due to his overreliance on the jab, Jake Paul will encounter a frustrating puzzle against Anderson Silva as 'The Spider' has made a career out of countering jabs.
Not only does he interrupt his opponent's jab with his own, he also moves his head off the center-line. Anderson Silva's interrupting jab is designed to stop his opponents from building their combinations. If every time 'The Problem Child' throws a jab and is interrupted by Silva's jabs, he won't be able to land his follow-up right hand, leaving him in no man's land.
#4. Anderson Silva's general counterpunching
Anderson Silva is the first opponent that Jake Paul has ever faced that matches his physical dimensions. The Brazilian is an inch taller and possesses a reach of 77.5 inches compared to 'The Problem Child's' 76-inch wingspan. While the differences might seem negligible, they factor into how both men use their reach. Jake Paul often benefits from being able to hit his opponents without worrying about them returning fire due to being longer and taller than his foes.
However, Silva presents a different threat. He often maintains a long distance when he fights, forcing his opponents to close the distance between them. Furthermore, he fights with his hands low, purposefully keeping his head exposed to dupe his foes into thinking his chin is an easy target. By forcing Jake Paul to fight from a distance, Silva will more easily draw out lunges from his foe, least of all when he dangles his chin in front of him.
However, once his opponents take the bait, Anderson Silva typically pulls back at the waist, leaning away and causing his foes to overextend on their punches before he pivots off at an angle and lands a thunderous counterpunch on their open side. Given 'The Spider's' deceptive knockout power, Jake Paul cannot absorb too many of his counterpunches if he's goaded into lunging forward.
#3. Feints & trickery
An opponent who interrupts one's jab and causes one to miss more frequently than one is accustomed to is an extremely frustrating conundrum. Jake Paul's patience and composure will be tested against the former UFC middleweight champion. Unable to consistently land his jabs and his powerful right hand, Paul will likely grow frustrated at some point during the bout.
Unfortunately, Silva will do more to assume complete control of the matchup. The UFC legend uses a myriad of tricks to either dangle bait in front of his foes or annoy them into committing reckless actions. He'll frequently dip his head into range, offering his opponents a free shot, only to move his head away in the final moments and counter them before taunting them into trying a second time.
Additionally, Silva uses wing chun feints as he moves his hands and forearms in different directions to aggravate his opponents and cause them to lash out. Another trick Silva uses against his foes is one he famously used to defeat Vitor Belfort at UFC 126.
While kicks are illegal under a boxing rule-set, Silva has applied this principle with his punches by looking low and punching high or glancing in one direction before punching from another. Against an aggravated, frustrated and impatient Jake Paul, this tactic will be even more effective as 'The Problem Child' will be desperate for Silva's actions to be indicative of something he can capitalize on. Unfortunately, when the Brazilian looks low, it does not always indicate that he will punch low.
#2. Cardio
Jake Paul's first bout with Tyron Woodley was very telling. Both men fought for 8 rounds before 'The Problem Child' was awarded a split-decision win that 'The Chosen One' contested with no serious backing from the MMA community. Instead, many were frustrated by Woodley's inability or unwillingness to chase a finish against Paul after stunning him with a seismic overhand right, least of all due to his opponent's depleted gas tank.
While Jake Paul is a powerful puncher, it comes at a cost. His cardio is poor. He was visibly tired against Woodley. Upon tiring, the former YouTuber stopped keeping his guard high and became more flat-footed, rendering him a more hittable and stationary target.
This does not bode well against the likes of Anderson Silva. The Brazilian possesses superior cardio, having fought for five 5-minute rounds several times throughout his career against Demian Maia, Nick Diaz, Chael Sonnen, Michael Bisping and Israel Adesanya, to name a few.
Not only is Silva's cardio better by a noticeable margin, but if Paul spends most of the fight missing, overextending and growing frustrated with his foe as the previous entries predict, he will tire even quicker than usual, allowing Anderson Silva to completely take over the fight against an exhausted opponent in an 8-round contest.
#1. Silva's chin
Jake Paul is unlikely to outpoint a more experienced counterpuncher who has mastered the art of distance management. While Tyron Woodley is also a counterpuncher, there is a significant difference between him and Anderson Silva. Woodley's base is wrestling and his counterpunching is limited to retreating in a straight line to create enough time, space and leverage to land an overhand right on an opponent he hopes will run into it by trying to lunge at him as he backs up.
Beyond that, 'The Chosen One' does nothing else for his counterpunching. Meanwhile, 'The Spider' uses feints, footwork and a deep arsenal of tricks to create openings for his counters. Thus, Paul's greatest chance at defeating Anderson Silva is by knocking him out. However, Paul might find that his punching power does not have the same effect on the Brazilian that it had on past opponents.
First, Silva is much larger than any of Paul's previous opponents, rendering him better equipped to absorb his blows by default. Second, Anderson Silva possesses a granite chin. In 46 MMA bouts with much smaller gloves, 'The Spider' has only ever been knocked out twice. The other two TKO losses on his record were due to leg injuries. Chris Weidman knocked him out in their first clash, while Uriah Hall needed four rounds to finish the Brazilian.
Weidman is among the biggest middleweights in the world, so big that he is not undersized at light heavyweight. Furthermore, he caught Silva when his foe's footing was weakest as 'The Spider' had pulled too far back at the waist and was bending backwards past his knees. Meanwhile, Uriah Hall was one of the most explosive and powerful knockout artists in the middleweight division. Jake Paul, in larger gloves, will find it much harder to knock Anderson Silva out than vice versa.
