UFC legend Anderson Silva insists his fight with Jake Paul isn’t a cash grab.
The MMA great will throw down with the brash and outspoken YouTuber-turned-boxer early on Sunday morning in Arizona.
Silva’s showdown with The Problem Child has been labelled as a last-ditch attempt for a final big payday, a notion the future UFC Hall of Famer has rubbished.
He said: “I don’t need the money anymore. People think money is important, but it’s not.
“Of course, I will make money from this fight because it’s my job.
“Don’t do something just for the money. Work because you have a passion.
READ MORE IN SPORT
“That’s what I’ve done and why I’ve been successful all my life.”
Silva’s desert dust-up with Paul – who is facing a whopping £92million lawsuit from Eddie Hearn – isn’t his first foray into the squared circle.
The Brazilian has amassed a 3-1 record, including a win over former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
But despite his decades of combat experience, Silva believes there’s more room for improvement when it comes to his boxing.
Most read in Boxing
JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET A FREE £10 BONUS WITH 100s OF GAMES TO PLAY AND NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED (Ts&Cs apply)
He said: “It’s different because you have seven different disciplines in MMA.
“But for boxing, I’m just training for boxing. I need to train more with my footwork, the position of my hands. But I’ve been training for boxing for many, many years. So it’s something I’m comfortable doing.
“Every single fight, you have different things you train for. Every fight is different. For this fight, I’m training to fight a boxer. The most important thing going into this fight is my experience.
“My experience is something that Jake doesn’t have. I love this challenge. That’s the secret to me. I go into this fight to prove my respect to the boxing community.”
Silva’s recent victory over Chavez Jr impressed Paul, although he’s confident of swatting The Spider on fight night.
While watching the fight, he said: “Knockout of the year incoming.
Read More on The Sun
“Yeah, I’ve seen this a bunch of times and every time I see it I just find more openings. He loves to get in that corner and dance – I’m not going to play that s***, it’s my ring, it’s my fight.
“I’m the A-Side for a reason – he’s not going to come in there and do that s***, I’m not going to feed into it.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
