Jake Paul predicts his upcoming fight against UFC legend Anderson Silva will be his biggest-selling pay-per-view to date.
YouTube star Paul, 25, looks for his sixth professional boxing win on October 29 when he challenges 47-year-old Silva. The fight is undoubtedly Paul's toughest challenge to date having previously knocked out retired MMA champions Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren, NBA star Nate Robinson and fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib.
The biggest pay-per-view event Paul has headlined was his first clash against Woodley, with the fight selling over 500,000 buys. Paul has estimated that his and Silva's star power will draw the card to around 600 or 700,000 buys, which would make it his most successful event to date. Silva's biggest UFC pay-per-view came in 2013 when he fought Chris Weidman for the second time, with the event doing just over one million buys.
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“I do think this will be the biggest pay-per-view [of his career],” Paul told MMA Junkie. “I would be happy with anywhere from 300-500,000, but I think it can get up anywhere to like 600 or 700,000, depending on how the fight week goes and the promotion and if ‘All Access’ performs well. I think this could be the biggest one for sure.”
Silva has insisted he isn't representing the MMA community for his fight with Paul, despite many fans hoping 'The Spider' can be the first man to defeat Paul in the ring. 'The Problem Child' refuted Silva's claim by stating: "He’s definitely representing the MMA community. I think he just doesn’t want that pressure, maybe because even Tyron said the same thing. Clearly they are representing the MMA community, and tons of the MMA fans want to see me lose, because there is a feud between us all.
"So he definitely is representing his legacy and all that. And the reason this fight is happening is because Dana White said I wouldn’t do it. So I had to check his bluff and prove to everyone - including him - that I’m not scared of Anderson Silva. So this is definitely MMA vs. I guess myself.”
Since parting ways with the UFC two years ago, Silva has impressed fans with his transition to boxing as he outpointed former world titleholder Julio Cesar Chavez and has also since knocked out fellow UFC legend Tito Ortiz. Paul thinks he will knockout Silva quicker than he did against Woodley in their rematch, adding: “[I'll] knock him out before round five, that’s my prediction and I strongly believe in that. Respectfully knock him out with love, grace and a kiss."
