Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva was cleared to field Jake Paul on Thursday by the Arizona Boxing Fee after a particular assembly was convened to determine whether or not he was match to compete.
The fee didn’t vote on the 47-year-old Silva’s license to field Paul on Saturday at Desert Diamond Area in Glendale, Ariz.,, as a result of that had already beforehand been granted. As a substitute, the company met to deal with extra medical documentation submitted by the ex-UFC champ and weigh public statements he’d made about his coaching, particularly a pair of knockouts he mentioned he suffered in a video shot one month prior.
Throughout a public Zoom assembly, commissioner Scott Fletcher mentioned he’d attended the Paul vs. Silva press convention on Thursday and was “very impressed” with Silva’s “psychological acuity.” That together with a “pristine” MRI submitted to the fee left him “fully comfy” with Silva boxing.
Commissioner Ara J. Feinstein, a trauma surgeon and ringside physician, mentioned he was initially “extraordinarily involved” with Silva’s admission in an MMA Weekly interview that was filmed Sept. 13 at a press convention however printed on Oct. 25.
“Given all of the work we’ve achieved on concussion protocol and emphasis we’ve been putting on fighter security, it simply left me actually involved,” Feinstein mentioned. “Nevertheless, as soon as I had additional info, the letter from Silva, the written assertion from his coach, and extra importantly, the outcomes of the medical examinations and the approval of the doctor studying the report, I turned way more comfy, and I’ve no objections to Mr. Silva taking part within the occasion this Saturday.”
“It feels like we’re all in the identical spot,” Fletcher mentioned.
“If fee has no issues, they don’t have to do something in any respect,” Yancy Jencsok, the fee’s authorized rep, mentioned.
“Nicely that’s what we’re finest at, Yancy,” Fletcher joked.
After studies of Silva’s interview emerged, the ex-champ launched an announcement by way of Showtime blaming his non-native English abilities for the gaffe, saying he “misspoke” and was knocked down, not out, in the course of the coaching classes. He later instructed reporters he was “joking” and making an attempt to raise his coaching companions.
Silva will now face Paul in an eight-round boxing match contested at a catchweight of 187 kilos. The official weigh-ins for the battle, which airs on Showtime pay-per-view, happen Friday morning.
Silva turned to boxing after his exit from the UFC, which happened in November 2020, one month after his fifth loss in his earlier six octagon bouts. He rapidly picked up momentum within the squared circle with a break up resolution win over ex-champ Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., then added to his voluminous spotlight reel with a knockout of UFC Corridor of Famer Tito Ortiz beneath the Triller banner.
Silva is extensively thought of the best middleweight in UFC historical past, ruling over the 185-pound division with 10 consecutive title defenses, a report that held up for 5 years till it was damaged by flyweight Demetrious Johnson.
