Jake Paul has released a video showing the "truth" about his win over Anderson Silva in October.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer is frequently accused of fixing his high-profile pay-per-view fights, with theories emerging surrounding his wins over former MMA champions Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley, as well as Silva. A baseless conspiracy theory claimed that Paul had inserted a 'no knockout clause' in Woodley's contract to face him the first time.
However, that theory was disproven when their contract was leaked to USA Today and showed no indication of any such stipulation, which would be illegal. Videos have also emerged claiming to show Paul's knockdown punch on Silva not making any contact at all with the UFC legend, although other angles clearly show the punch landing cleanly.
The footage shared by Paul's promotional company shows in slow motion, from multiple angles, Paul working a two-punch combination, with the second one landing flush on Silva's face. His glove can clearly be seen making contact, while ripples are also made in Silva's face indicating that he was, in fact, hit.
UFC star Paddy Pimblett was one of the people who claimed to have seen footage online in which Paul's punch didn't land, and Silva seemingly went down due to the bout being 'rigged'. He was appearing on an episode of Pub Talk when he claimed that the American's win over Woodley was legitimate, but that the Silva one was not.
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Asked if he feels Paul's fights are fixed by host Alan Brazil, Pimblett said: "Yeah, but I don't think the Tyron Woodley knockout was fixed. When you get knocked out like that and you land face first, if you're not unconscious you'd go [put your arms out], you can't help it that's a human reaction. I seen an angle of a punch he hit Anderson Silva with the other day where he sat down and he didn't even hit him."
Paul hit back at Pimblett in retaliation, insisting that the Scouse fighter was attempting to denigrate the legacy of an iconic figure in Silva by claiming that he had rigged a fight. "I was really wanting to like you, I really was; you've got a good thing going for you but then you come out and say my fight with Anderson Silva was rigged," Paul said.
"I'm sick and tired of this narrative. It's stupid and pathetic; you're disrespecting the GOAT [Greatest Of All Time] of your own sport. You're saying that Anderson Silva is a criminal, that he is a fraud. You're saying Viacom, one of the biggest media companies in the world, is doing criminal stuff."
