Jake Paul and Anderson Silva came face to face for the first time ahead of their fight next month.
Paul, a YouTuber with five fights to his name, will take on the UFC legend in Arizona on October 29 in a clash of the generations. Silva, 47, reigned as the UFC middleweight champion for seven years and made 10 successful defences over 2,457 days to establish himself as one of the greatest fighters of all time.
Paul, 25, faces his toughest test to date having previously taken on a fellow social media star, a retired NBA star and two MMA stand-outs in his five bouts to date. He had been due to take on first Tommy Fury and then Hasim Rahman Jr last month but both fights fell through at short notice.
As they met for their opening press conference, Paul said: ""The fun was over on day one; I signed up for the hardest sport in the world but this is what I'm built for. I grew up idolising this guy and it's surreal to even be seating here. I was on the sofa watching this guy as a kid; this is my toughest challenge yet and I'm prepared."
Of the respect he has shown to Silva compared to his other opponents, Paul added: "It all has to do with my previous opponents being d***heads. Anderson Silva is the nicest guy in the world and we love him. If my opponent is a d***head I'm going to treat him as a d***head and kick his ass, but I respect him. I'm still going to knock him out, maybe respectfully, but I'm going to knock him out."
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Quietly-spoken Silva also paid tribute to his opponent when he said: "Everybody needs to respect this guy because he's opened the door for everyone to think of something new. Many, many years ago, he came with his brother and we took a picture, it's insane. I've fought a lot in my life and I'm here again; its a new generation and I'm still here. This is the proof everyone can do everything in their life when they have passion.
"I'm enjoying my life and trying to do my best in everything I do in my life. I love my job, combat sports is part of me and when I have the opportunity to show my respect and how much I love fighting, I'm excited."
