Jake Paul's fight with Anderson Silva could be cancelled tonight after the UFC legend revealed he was knocked out in sparring before rowing back on his claims.
Paul and Silva are due to clash in Phoenix on Saturday night but the Arizona Boxing and MMA Commission will meet this evening to determine whether the Brazilian will be allowed to compete. The 47-year-old said in an interview filmed last month that he had been knocked out twice while preparing for the fight, but later insisted he had used the wrong words in English.
In a statement, Silva said: "After seeing the reports and concern for me, I'd like to clarify two important things. One, I was NEVER knocked out in sparring. I misspoke in that interview as I sometimes do when interviewing in English and exaggerated the normal back-and-forth action that occurs in sparring.
"Second, this sparring session I referenced was in early September. The interview with MMA Weekly was done on September 13 and, for some reason, just released this week. So, it wasn't recent. More importantly, my training camp has been great. I am fit and ready to fight and the only knockout people should be worried about is the one I'm about to deliver to Jake Paul on Saturday night."
Paul and Silva are due to come face-to-face tonight at the final press conference before weighing in tomorrow. In the initial interview, Silva told MMA Weekly: “I’m training hard for win. I’m training with the good boxers of a high-level, and five guys have come to help me.
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"And in the last sparring with my partner, he knocked me out two times, and when I finished the training, I talked to my coach and I said, ‘Coach, let me tell you something, why have the guys knocked me out two times?’ And the coach said, 'You need [to] prepare for war, and you will prepare for war'."
Paul has won his first five fights as a professional but faces his toughest task against Silva who reigned as the UFC middleweight champion for seven years before losing to Chris Weidman in 2016. He would win just one of his next eight fights before leaving the organisation.
