Joe Rogan has strongly played down suggestions that Jake Paul's recent bout against Anderson Silva was 'fixed'.
The Problem Child picked up another victory via unanimous decision on October 29 to extend his unbeaten run to 6-0, with all three judges giving him the win on their scorecards.
But in the aftermath of last week's eight-round contest in Arizona, a fan posted a six-second clip which they claim 'proves' Paul's fight with former UFC champion Silva was 'rigged'.
The slow-motion footage of Silva falling to the ground proceeded to go viral on TikTok. It was captioned: "And people still think these aren't rigged".
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Days later and Jake Paul responded to claims his win over Anderson Silva was rigged.
"I think smart people with intelligence are giving me props and respect," he told Ariel Helwani. "Like the WBC President [Mauricio Sulaiman] saying that anyone who says Jake is not a real boxer is just bitter and is a hater.
"People like Teddy Atlas showing me mad respect, a lot of fighters showing me mad respect, a lot of MMA guys texting me saying, 'You look really sharp, that was the best you’ve fought,' Ryan Garcia showing me respect. So, the smart people who I care about are showing that love.
"There are the people who will always be there in my career who are discrediting it. Now, they’re saying it was rigged. It went from, 'Jake’s going to get knocked out by Anderson' to, 'Oh, that was rigged.'"
Paul added: "I lose faith in my generation and my peers, and us as a society and a world when I see that type of stuff and that type of stupidity. It just sucks. It sucks because I worked so hard for this.
"I dedicate everything, sacrifice everything, every single day, bust my balls, have a 15-person team working around the clock to help me become the best boxer possible, and when I do something like beating Anderson Silva, they try to take it away from me. But I know deep down, and I guess that’s all that really matters."
It continues to be a huge talking point amongst fight fans online and now, UFC commentator Joe Rogan has addressed the 'rigged' claims by saying anyone who believes the knockdown is not legitimate is "crazy".
In a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, he said: “Some people are trying to say that fight was fixed because of the knockdown.
“I just want to explain to people this is what happened ... Anderson moved forward to Jake Paul and Jake Paul hit him with a sort of a stepping jab and caught him right on the chin. And when he caught him on the chin, Anderson Silva was falling backwards and then he leans away from the right hand and he goes down. He was down from the punch, but it looks like the right hand doesn’t connect, but the left hand is what f***** him up.
“That dude hits f****** hard and for anybody to say he doesn’t hit hard because he’s a YouTube Star — if this guy was not a f****** YouTube star and he was some dude who went out there and flatlined Tyron Woodley with one punch and just knocked down Anderson Silva in the f****** eighth round ... Come on, son. That is legit as f***. Anybody that says that’s not legitimate is crazy. He cracked him.”
Rogan added: “Dude, he can fight. Is he the best in the world? No. But is he getting better with every fight? Yes. Is he a 25-year-old guy who’s a legit athlete? Yes. If this is what he wants to do, this guy is making a f****** insane amount of money and he f****** loves it. He’s beating people that everybody says he shouldn’t be the f****** ring with.”
Back in May, Rogan suggested YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul isn't given enough credit for his boxing ability because he's a celebrity.
"Jake Paul can crack. One hundred percent," Rogan said. "That knockout against Tyron Woodley is legit as f**k.
"If Jake Paul wasn’t Jake Paul, if he wasn’t this YouTube guy, he was just a boxer - you see a boxer knock out the former UFC welterweight champion.
"Not just the former, but one of the best ever. You’d be like, 'Have you seen this Jake Paul dude coming up? He’s for real!'"
Rogan went on to break down what impresses him most about Paul. He continued: "The feints, the foot movement, the way he lands shots. He fights like a boxer. He doesn’t fight like a guy trying to box in a celebrity boxing match."
Topics: Joe Rogan, Jake Paul, Anderson Silva, YouTube, Boxing
Jack Kenmare