With an attendance at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, AZ. of 14,430, after a very close fight and Anderson going down once, the night ended with Jake Paul remaining undefeated. With a whole host of prospects for the future.
Here are some post fight fighter quotes from the main card:
JAKE PAUL Unanimous Decision after 8 rounds vs ANDERSON SILVA. Jake Paul landed 51 of 121 power punches (44%), while Anderson Silva landed 66 of 176 of his power punches (38%). The difference for Paul was his jab. He threw 215 jabs, 140 more than Silva, and landed 32.
Jake Paul
“It’s a surreal moment. Hard work pays off. First and foremost, I want to say thank you to Anderson. He was my idol growing up. He inspired me to be great. He was the first celebrity I ever met. Without him, we wouldn’t have had a fight this year. He’s a tough mofo. A legend. I have nothing but respect for him. This just goes to show that anyone watching at home, chase your dreams. It’s never too late. I started boxing two-and-a-half years ago as a pro and just beat one of the greatest ever because I’m obsessed with this. I go so hard every single day. Nothing can get in my way. No distractions. And if you’re watching at home, it doesn’t matter if you have talent, it doesn’t matter if you have anything, you just have to work your ass off and you can accomplish your dreams. This should just go to prove that because I met Anderson when I was 13 years old. If you’re 13 years old watching this, go get it. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something.
“We were just fighting in the clinch and he got caught on the way out. He took so many hard shots throughout the whole fight. The dude is a real dog. You see what happens to everyone else that gets hit with that. He’s the toughest guy in the world but I just wanted it more. I’m a real dog and I left it all in the ring.
“They’re going to find something to say. ‘Fight a real boxer.’ I tried. If I were walking on water, people would say that I can’t swim. There’s always going to be haters. There’s always going to be critics. It’s an everyday part of life if you’re doing something and being successful. I don’t worry about it.
“This is just the start. I want Nate Diaz. Canelo, you too. You guys said, ‘You can’t beat a striker, you can’t beat a legend like Anderson Silva.’ I just did it. So why can’t I beat Canelo?”
Anderson Silva
“I worked hard to put on a special show for everybody here. Thank you to everyone for coming. That’s the game. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But nothing will change in my life. I’ll continue training hard because I’m born for this. Now, I go back home, continue training and see the next challenge.
“I think the judges got it right. Listen, it’s tough to come inside here and fight a young kid. I tried to do my best. I trained hard every day. Jake is better than me today. I don’t have anything bad to say about my opponent. I think everybody needs to respect this kid because he’s doing the best job. I trained hard. I’m a warrior.
“Absolutely, I’m going to continue fighting. Nobody can stop me except God.”
ASHTON SYLVE WIN KO Round 1 vs BRAULIO RODRIGUEZ. Each fighter landed three punches. Sylve’s second punch hurt Rodriguez, and his third punch finished him off.
Ashton Sylve
“That’s the thing when you have a long training camp, you want to show that in the ring right here. So when I came out here, I wanted to get him right out.
“Arizona is lit. I did this for my people back home in Long Beach. This is lit.
“I’ve got to go back and talk with the team. But hopefully, I can come back over here. This crowd was incredible. Hopefully, we can do it again. I can fight again this year. First round KO. I can go a few more rounds, come back here and put another show on.
“I love the movie Minions. But at the same time, it’s inspirational. You never would think the Minions do what they do. And I don’t think people would think an 18-year-old would come out here and put a performance on like this with a veteran, experienced fighter.
“I’m speechless. I grew up under the spotlight, but this is something else. I’m ready for whatever comes next and I’m loving life right now.
“I don’t care who comes next. I just want the belt. There is nothing I want more than that right now.
“To all the fans out there, thanks for the love.”
ALEXANDRO SANTIAGO WIN TKO Round 7 vs ANTONIO NIEVES.
Alexandro Santiago landed 49% of his power punches, and landed 40 more power punches than Antonio Nieves.
Alexandro Santiago
“I feel so happy. I want to thank the fans for making me feel right at home and cheering for me.
“This motivates me even more to keep getting better and be considered among the great Mexican fighters representing our country right now.
“Bring on any of the champions! If I had to choose, I would pick Inoue or Nonito Donaire. In fact, I would love to fight Nonito.
“In our first fight against each other, it was my big debut in the United States so it was a different fight than what you saw tonight. I envisioned that it was going to end this way. I didn’t want it to go to the judges. I’m going to be even better trained for my next fight.
“I want to become the champion of the world so I want to fight the best. The best that are out there in my division, I want to fight them.
“Yes, this was the biggest win of my career so far. It feels great. This was the biggest card I’ve fought on and it was just great fighting on this event here tonight.”
URIAH HALL Unanimous Decision WIN after 4 Rounds vs LE’VEON BELL. Bell landed 51% of his power punches (37 of 73), and he landed 53 body punches over four rounds. Hall landed 44% of his power punches (47 of 106), and seemed to stun Bell on multiple occasions.
Uriah Hall
“I just told Le’Veon that I have so much respect for him. It’s such a hard thing to do, to switch careers. He’s a professional football player and for him to step outside of his comfort zone to do this – it’s the toughest sport in the world. I don’t care who you are. This is the toughest sport in the world. I give him so much props. I’m proud of you, man. This should make you understand that it’s a hard road and I promise you, if you keep going you’ll make it.
“He definitely surprised me. He’s pretty good. I do think he has a spot in this career. Obviously, this sport is mental. But for him to stick with his jab to the body, I didn’t know if he was trying to set me up, but he was very consistent with it. He was strong, man. I got cracked a couple times and I was like, ‘Holy s—.’ But I had to keep it together. I’m proud of him, man.
“I was surprised I won because this is MMA and boxing. The judges are different sometimes. It’s hard when you leave it up to these people who don’t really know you. I didn’t want to leave my career in the hands of people who don’t know me. So my job was to come out here and try to finish him. Unfortunately, I can’t leave it in the hands of other people. I can’t do it. This is my career. This is my life. This is my paycheck.
“F— yeah I want to keep boxing. I want Jake Paul. I want his frosty ass. I’m the dude that’s going to come out here and expose him. If Anderson doesn’t do it, I’m going to be the one to f— you up.”
Le’Veon Bell
“I thought I did OK. That’s a great fighter right there. I think he got the best of me.
“All the credit goes to him. I watched film and I think there are some things I would do differently now like following up with my hands a little more. But he did a great job.
“He didn’t hurt me. I’ve been playing football so I’m used to getting hit pretty hard.”
Chris Avila Unanimous Decision WIN vs Dr Mike
Chris Avila
“Props to Dr. Mike for taking the fight. I don’t have any bad feelings towards him. I’m glad I got the win but I would have liked to get the finish. It was a four-round fight, so I had to get the work in. He’s a tough guy, so props to him.
“I don’t fight at 185 pounds. I’ll come back to 168. So whoever wants it come and get you some. Who’s next? [Chad Ochocinco] can get it. Any of these guys can get it. I’m not going to say any names but any UFC fighters that are locked into your contracts out there, get out and I’ll give you some. Anybody can get it. Any boxer. Anybody.”
Dr. Mike Varshavski
“Probably just a lack of experience and I was trying to multi-task a little out there. But overall it’s a great experience. I got a beautiful check for the Harlem Boys and Girls Club for $175,000 so looking to move forward and do it again and get some wins.
“He never really hurt me. I got hit in the back of the head a few times, so that was different. Otherwise, just need a little more experience in the ring. Hitting the canvas wasn’t going to happen. I’m a tough Russian guy from Brooklyn.
“What’s next? We’ll see what opportunities come my way. I’m excited to get back out there and do it again.”
Post Fight Press Conference Video:
MMA Fight Coverage discussed with Jake Paul the reality of those who are lining up to fight him next. It is like the ‘ Jake Paul Lottery” who is going to win the next slot ? When your faced with a life changing amount of money, I’m sure its not a big leap to believe there’s a whole line of fighters waiting on the opportunity.
Since Nate Diaz was in the house supporting his teammate Chris Avila he was able to draw enough attention to himself to cause Jake to name him as someone who rose to the top of that list. Included below is a scene that was hard to make out in the hall with Diaz all up in the middle of it. Captured by Fight Hub TV via Instagram.
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Paul also mentioned professional boxer Canelo Álvarez as someone he still has interest in. There were some asking, if there would be a rematch with Anderson, since the fight was so close? And I brought up Joe “Diesel” Riggs, whom I think would be a perfect match up for Jake. Riggs has always been loved by MMA fans. He started fighting in mixed martial arts back in 2001, the very year I began to cover the sport. He’s 40 years old. He is a former UFC fighter and has fought for Bellator among others. He currently is a Bareknuckle Boxer. He has fought approx. 90 fights losing only 18 of them. His name “Diesel” Riggs is self explanatory because he is built like a Mack Truck. Jake has clearly said he wants fights that will test him and Riggs would do that for sure. If the event were held here in Arizona again the fans would flock to support local favorite Joe Riggs. But to my dismay Jake said, “I don’t know who the fuck he is.” Well gosh I couldn’t respond because my turn was up. But Joe Riggs is a man who has dedicated over 20 years of his life to fighting and I can’t think of a more worthy man who deserves the pay out, the opportunity and I’m telling you could very well KO Jake. Hell, I’m all about it! Lets do this!
Quotes from Post Fight Press Conference with Penny Buffington, MMA Fight Coverage and Jake Paul:
Penny Buffington MMA Fight Coverage
“Hey Jake, Penny Buffington from MMA Fight Coverage, I’m trying to come up with the words to express how impressed I am with you. Absolutely amazing what you have done. Coming from the YouTube days and now we’re on Showtime Sports. The whole entire event is because of you Jake Paul and I’m beyond impressed with that.
I’m kind of picturing what it’s like for you to choose your next opponent. It’s like the Jake Paul Lottery, who’s gonna win next? Who gets to fight you? Are you bombarded with requests to fight and how do you handle that? How do you go through that list? “
Jake Paul
“I think this fight did two things. It’ll make much higher level people wanna fight me and it’ll make the ones who were already scared, you know like we saw earlier this year, they’re not gonna wanna fight me. So, we’ll see. I’m sure there’s a lot of names. I haven’t even gone on Twitter yet To look at everything and all the call outs. But I’m sure there is going to be allot. It’s back to the drawing board and we’ll see who it is. But you know Nate Diaz was here acting like a bitch. Everyone wants that fight. He tried to fight people in the hallway. You know Nate should stop fighting people for free. Let’s do it in the ring. I know you’re a little slow buddy, but it’s OK, we can make that fight happen.
And you too Canelo. You’re getting old you looked weird against triple GI I still want that fight as well and I think now, like I said it 18 months ago. I want Canelo, I was sitting in a room just like this and everyone was like haha fucking idiot. And now 18 months later here we are and when I say that maybe people are taking it a little bit more seriously now. I still mean it and I still want that fight.”
Penny Buffington MMA Fight Coverage
“Are you the one that strictly makes those decisions? Are you the one that’s actually pawing through those requests and choosing? Or do you actually have someone in your mind that you kind of want and you go for. Or do you go through those requests?”
Jake Paul
“All of the above and it’s just who makes sense at the right time. Who actually wants to do it and who will actually show up and be a professional and make weight. But it is who I want. Even the people on my team, my coaches and stuff, were like, well you sure you Anderson? And I was like yes, I can do this.”
Penny Buffington MMA Fight Coverage
“I know that Joe Riggs has been calling you out. Is he someone you have considered? “
Jake Paul
“I don’t know who the fuck that is.”
Penny Buffington MMA Fight Coverage
“I was afraid you were gonna say that. I find it kind of funny, because anyone who knows Anderson Silva definitely knows who Joe Riggs is and he is local , so I mean, I just think that would be a perfect matchup for you and I hope it’s something that you’ll consider.”
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