Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has now insisted he ‘misspoke’ in an interview where he seemingly admitted to being knocked out twice while preparing to fight Jake Paul.
The MMA icon will meet the 5-0 YouTuber-turned-boxer in an intriguing eight-round, 187lbs catchweight fight in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday night.
Despite being 47 years old, Silva is regarded by many as the toughest test of Paul’s short career, as he is a decorated UFC fighter who holds a boxing win over former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Meanwhile, ‘The Problem Child’ has wins over former MMA champions Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren on his record – but they don’t have a background in striking.
During a recent interview with MMA Weekly, ‘The Spider’ seemingly revealed that preparations for Paul have not gone ideally as he was knocked out twice during his final sparring session.
“I’m training hard for [the] win. I’m training with the good boxers, high-level, and five guys come to help me,” Silva said.
“In the last sparring with [my sparring partner], he knocked me out two times, and when I finish training, I talked to my coach and even said, ‘Coach, let me tell you something, ‘Why [did] the guy knock me out two times?’ And the coach said, ‘You need to prepare for war, and you prepare for war.’”
However, Silva’s long-time coach, Luiz Carlos Dorea emphatically denied his fighter was knocked out in a statement issued to MMA Fighting.
“What I can say is that didn’t happen,” he said. “Thank God we follow all the steps in training and Anderson did excellent sparring [sessions]. He’s 100 percent for the fight.”
And now the fighter himself has clarified the situation, insisting he has ‘never been knocked out’ and the Brazilian saying he ‘misspoke’ due to the language barrier.
“After seeing the reports and concern for me, I’d like to clarify two important things,” Silva said in a statement.
“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 Sept. 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.”
The Arizona Department of Gaming, which will oversee Paul vs Silva, claimed to be ‘looking into the matter’ after the initial reports and comments surfaced.
Due to his age, Silva must undergo rigorous testing before he is granted a license to box and must also reveal his most recent knockout, the longest duration of unconsciousness, and whether he’s been knocked out in any other way.
It appears the Brazilian just got his words mixed up, which is easily done for someone who has English as a second language.
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News Summary:
- UFC legend Anderson Silva says he ‘misspoke’ and insists he was NOT knocked out twice in sparring ahead of Jake Paul fight
- Check all news and articles from the latest Boxing updates.