Following his recent decision victory over Anderson Silva in Arizona, Jake Paul has been accused by viewers online of rigging fights.
The YouTuber-turned-fighter knocked the 47-year-old Silva down in the eighth and final round of their contest before going on to win unanimously on the judges’ score cards. Some online accounts began circulating a slow motion clip of the knockdown, claiming that the MMA veteran had ‘taken a dive.’
Popular combat sports commentator, Joe Rogan, did not agree in the slightest. He broke down the knockdown, punch-by-punch, on his podcast.
“Some people are trying to say that that fight was fixed because of the knockdown … I just want to explain to people this is what happened. Anderson moved forward to Jake Paul and Jake Paul with a sort of a stepping jab and caught him right on the chin.
And when he caught him on the chin, Anderson Silva was falling backwards and then he leans away from the right hand, and he goes down … He was down from the punch but it looks like the right hand doesn’t connect – and it doesn’t connect – but the left hand is what f***ed him up.”
Given he’s used to analysing similar sequences, his argument against the fight fixing theories is a strong one. As for Paul in general, he had more to say to the young fighter’s detractors.
“That dude [Jake Paul] hits f***ing hard, and for anybody to say he doesn’t hit hard because he’s a YouTube star… If this guy was not a f***ing YouTube star and he was some dude who went out there and flatlined Tyron Woodley with one punch and just knocked down Anderson Silva in the f***ing eighth round.”
“Dude, he can fight. Is he the best in the world? No, but is he getting better with every right? Yes. Is he a 25-year-old guy who’s a legit athlete? Yes.”
Jake Paul moved to 6-0 with his victory over Silva, and it looks like he will pursue either a fight with Tommy Fury or another retired MMA star in Nate Diaz next, although there are other names in the conversation, too.