YouTube star Jake Paul has been told his knockout prediction of Anderson Silva won't come to fruition when the two fight next month.
Paul, 25, will look for his sixth professional win when he takes on 47-year-old UFC legend Silva on October 29 in Phoenix, Arizona. 'The Problem Child' plans to use the same "secret punches" which have dropped his sparring partners to knockout Silva, but the Brazilian's former opponent Chael Sonnen doesn't think it will be that straightforward for Paul.
"I do have strong feelings for this fight, I don't think Jake Paul is going to knock him out," Sonnen told Fight Hub TV. "If there was a magic wand, you knew this fight was going to happen and that Jake wasn't going to knock him out, it would change your opinion. Jake counts on that, he's a powerful guy and he connects on people. I don't think it's going to happen with Anderson and if he does connect, I don't think he's going to put 'The Spider' down.
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Paul insisted he would be an underdog for the first time in his career by fighting Silva, but the YouTube star opened as the betting favourite when the fight was first announced. Odds for the fight have now changed as Silva is the slight favourite, as Sonnen added: "A lot of negative talk comes around Jake Paul, we understand that's jealousy and part of what social media can be. Jake Paul [opens] as a two to one favourite, 24 hours later it switched. Anderson became the favourite, but I thought it would be closer at one point to six to one, favouring Anderson. People secretly respect Jake Paul."
Silva is known for being one of the most elusive MMA strikers ever and 'The Spider' has carried over his knockout power to boxing since crossing over to the ring. Sonnen feels there aren't many fighters who can mimic the ambidexterity of Silva and insists the UFC legend is a "huge problem" for Paul despite almost being double his age.
"Somebody asked Jake how he was training and he said 'he's always training for great guys'," Sonnen added. "I want to hear specifically, how are you doing with a guy who is ambidextrous? People like to say Anderson is a southpaw but when I fought him he was orthodox, he switches stance and that's a very unique look. If you choose to stand and look at Anderson it's not his attacks that are so scary, it's his setups. I think Anderson is a big problem."
