GLENDALE, Arizona – Jake Paul’s message to Dana White was as crass as you might expect in the immediate aftermath of his win against Anderson Silva.
The UFC president predicted Paul would not fight even this 47-year-old version of Silva because the former UFC middleweight champion would expose Paul in a boxing match. The Brazilian southpaw tested Paul throughout their eight-round cruiserweight bout, but Paul dropped Silva with a right hand early in the eighth round and won a unanimous decision Saturday night at Desert Diamond Arena.
Judges Paul Calderon (77-74), Dennis O’Connell (78-73) and Chris Wilson (78-73) all scored Paul the winner of their Showtime Pay-Per-View main event.
The 25-year-old Paul understandably was asked during his post-fight press conference if he had any words for White, whom Paul claimed Thursday tried to sabotage his showdown with the legendary Silva from behind the scenes (https://www.boxingscene.com/jake-paul-dana-white-reason-i-took-anderson-silva-fight-shut-him-hell-up–170061).
“Dana? Dana? Dana? Bro, you said I wouldn’t do this. And I did it, and with flying colors,” Paul said. “But, you know, he’s in hiding. You know, he’s trying to do everything he can to stop my run, to sabotage my fights. He hates me. He hates me. He hates what I’m doing. He hates I’m exposing his business.
“And now, you know, we’re gonna band together and create a united fighters association to help UFC fighters, all MMA fighters and boxers, to get more fighter pay, long-term health care. And that’s a big, big undertaking that I’ve been wanting to do for the whole entire time of my career, since I met [adviser] Nakisa [Bidarian]. I said it to him on the first day, I wanna make a fighters union. So, man, Dana White can suck this d—.”
Paul (6-0, 4 KOs) called out another former UFC legend, Nate Diaz, that White’s company helped build into a household name following his victory over Silva (3-2, 2 KOs). The social media superstar already has beaten three former UFC fighters in four of his six professional boxing bouts.
Prior to his solid showing versus Silva, Paul knocked out Ben Askren in the first round of their April 2021 bout at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. After edging onetime UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley by split decision in their first fight, an eight-rounder in August 2021 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Paul knocked Woodley unconscious with a right hand in the sixth round of their immediate rematch last December 18 at Amalie Arena in Tampa.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.