Jake Paul believes Dana White is trying to "hurt" his upcoming pay-per-view bout with Anderson Silva which takes place on October 29.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer is set to face legendary former UFC middleweight champion Silva in Arizona next week, after the Brazilian's former promoter claimed that he would never take such a fight. And he believes White has made an effort to hinder the fight's promotion as he looks to hit a solid pay-per-view number for his first fight of the year.
Paul's feud with White started as a petty rivalry, the likes of which he has with countless fighters and social media stars. But when he began to call out the UFC boss on issues such as fighter pay and began working towards starting a union for combat athletes, it started to get a little bit more serious.
"Dana White is doing everything he can to hurt the Anderson Silva PPV promotion," Paul tweeted. "The same Silva he said I would never fight. The same Silva he has kept out of UFC Hall of Fame. Just shows how much he fears what I’m doing. Trust me change is coming and we are getting organised."
It is not clear exactly what Paul claims White has done to hinder the fight, given he has minimal pull with Showtime Boxing, the event's broadcaster, or the venue in Arizona. He has remained relatively quiet on the event as a whole, and has asked journalists to refrain from asking about it at UFC press conferences.
Paul has previously fought YouTubers, a basketball player and MMA champions with wrestling backgrounds, meaning that an established striker like Silva will prove a difficult challenge. The Brazilian is 47-years-old, but has beaten former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and knocked out former UFC champion Tito Ortiz during his move to boxing over the last year-and-a-half.
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The social media star has also to date only faced orthodox opponents who are smaller than him, while Silva is a bigger, longer southpaw. He has changed things up in his camp as a result, and has brought in a host of different training partners to help him prepare for a different type of opponent.
“It’s always good to have a big challenge because it pushes you to be perfect," Paul has said of the fight. "There’s no room for lack of motivation or down time or complaining or anything like that. I know that this is a massive opportunity to catapult myself into the history books. To be a legend, you have to beat a legend and that’s what I have the opportunity to do here.
“So many things are clicking with it being my third year of being a professional boxer. I’ve improved drastically and exponentially. People are going to see a different fighter in the ring. I think people are going to be shocked. It’s been amazing and we’ve really caught a stride and a rhythm with the training camp this year.”
