The boxing novice will take on UFC icon Anderson Silva at the weekend
The YouTuber arrived in novel style for the press event. © Twitter / Showtime Boxing
YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul went cowboy on Wednesday night when arriving at a media workout on a horse before his latest fight.
The 5-0 novice will take on 47-year-old UFC legend Anderson Silva in a boxing bout at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, on Saturday and paid tribute to the region’s ‘Old West’ history by coming to his open training session on horseback.
Lil Nas X’s 2019 smash hit ‘Old Town Road’ played in the background as a confident Paul chewed gum and then dismounted before completing his duties.
Explaining the story behind the stunt to Showtime, Paul said: “Me and my friend were just talking, ‘Like yo, what should we do for the open workout?’
“I was like, ‘I should just ride in on a horse. And we made it happen.”
“I’m going to war. I feel like a warrior, a gladiator, that’s really what this is on Saturday,” Paul added.
In a clip shared by Showtime’s Twitter account, the horse, named Donald, gave popular combat sport analyst Luke Thomas a scare by getting in his face when he was sitting with Paul for an interview.
Jake Paul rides into open workouts on a horse 🐎 #PaulSilvapic.twitter.com/4ZsMgd5IVz
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) October 27, 2022
New addition to Saturday's #PaulSilva card:@lthomasnews vs. 'The Donald' 🐎 😎 pic.twitter.com/B55WVpxJgG
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) October 27, 2022
Paul will face Brazilian icon Silva, who mostly campaigned at middleweight within its 185lbs limit in his UFC heyday, in an eight-round, 187lbs licensed boxing match.
The American has been criticized for taking on aging MMA welterweights such as Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley in the boxing ring. Though Silva is older than both men, he has boxing pedigree and beat both former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Tito Ortiz last year.
Paul and Silva have been respectful towards one another building up to the fight and went viral on TikTok with a video dancing together which has been enjoyed over a million times.
The good-natured clip has led to allegations that Silva will take a dive, however, and the Sao Paulo native has had to clear up comments where he appeared to say that he had been knocked out in sparring.
“I talked to my coach and even said, ‘Coach, let me tell you something, why the guys knock me out two times?’” Silva said to MMA Weekly on September 13, in an interview only published this week.
“And the coach said, ‘You need to prepare for war, and you prepare for war,’” Silva added.
In a statement circulated by Showtime on Wednesday, Silva said that he wanted to “clarify two important things” after “seeing the reports and concern for me”.
“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,” Silva added.
Silva retired from MMA with a 34-11 career but boasts a similar 3-1 boxing record to Paul’s.
Winning his last three bouts, Siva hasn’t been beaten in the sport since May 1998, when he retired in the first round against Osmar Luiz Teixeira in his homeland.
