KSI has issued an apology to Anderson Silva after being accused by the Brazilian of "spreading rumours" ahead of his fight with Jake Paul.
The UFC legend will take to the ring on Saturday night when he takes on YouTube star Paul in Phoenix. YouTube star KSI - real name JJ Olatunji - will be watching closely given his long-term rivalry with Paul with whom he plans to touch gloves with himself next year.
KSI and Paul have frequently gone back-and-forth in a war of verbal barbs on social media since their rivalry began, and he once again reignited their feud, writing on Twitter : "Anderson Silva has said that he’s been knocked out twice before his fight against Jake Paul. Think we know how this is going to go."
Silva then quickly hit back with a critical response, tweeting: "Young man please don’t try and spread rumours that were simply bad English. You and Jake are such an inspiration to the youth. Build together. Don’t burn." KSI then fired back and ended the exchange: "I have no respect for Jake.
"He is no inspiration. Only thing he wants to build, is himself. He’s destroyed more bridges than a tsunami. Either way, my bad. Good luck in your fight." Paul himself then weighed in on the debate, adding: "Smart to bow down to the GOAT. When I see you, you are getting Jordan Pooled you little b****."
Paul then continued to criticise his YouTube foe, adding: "Dear KSI. You say all I have is a right hand. So why then are you so afraid to fight me? I’m genuinely curious. Even your own fans are starting to lose respect for you." Worrying quotes emerged yesterday in which Silva appeared to suggest he had been "knocked out" twice during sparring for his upcoming fight with Paul.
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But Silva later released a statement firmly denying the claims, and insisted he simply misspoke during an interview in September. "After seeing the reports and concern for me, I'd like to clarify two important things. 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.
'Secondly, this sparring session I referenced was in early September. The interview was done on Sept. 13 and, for some reason, just released this week. So, it wasn't recent. More importantly, my training camp has been great. I am fit and ready to fight and the only knockout people should be worried about is the one I'm about to deliver to Jake Paul on Saturday night.”
