It appears that not every fighter who retired from the UFC in the past year or so is done with fighting. Recently, Tony Ferguson broke his duck since 2020 by beating Salt Papi under the Misfits Boxing banner. Now, former middleweight champion Chris Weidman is making his boxing debut, and it’s all thanks to YouTuber-turned-boxing sensation, Jake Paul.

Chris Weidman was planning to make a comeback in MMA with the GFL promotion. But the promotion’s plans to set up the fights and give fighters insurance and other benefits did not materialize, which has now led ‘The All American’ to the squared circle. Interestingly, Weidman’s first boxing opponent is perhaps one of his biggest rivals, Anderson Silva.

Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman Part III has been announced for the Jake Paul headline

Jake Paul has made a name for himself fighting retired UFC veterans, but now his focus has turned to boxers, and after the success he had fighting Mike Tyson, ‘El Gallo’ is looking forward to his exhibition bout against Gervonta Davis. But other than that, MMA fans may be interested in knowing that Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman will also compete in a boxing match on the main card of the Paul-Davis fight, as per boxing insider Andreas Hale.

Chris Weidman may need to get his boxing training right because Anderson Silva has been boxing for a while now. ‘The Spider’ has competed in five pro fights, out of which he’s won three and lost two, and has two knockout wins to his name. Now, the UFC legend, Weidman, who has a 2-0 record over his rival, and Silva, will get to settle their differences once and for all on a different stage, which is quite intriguing.

‘The All American’ never thought he’d be boxing, but was aware of the money that goes around in the sport. A couple of years after Anderson Silva’s loss to Jake Paul, Chris Weidman revealed his wish to fight the social media influencer and even had some choice words for ‘El Gallo’.

Weidman had previously spoken about fighting Paul

Jake Paul was really making noise last year before landing the Mike Tyson fight. Chris Weidman, who wasn’t having the best comeback run in the UFC, revealed his thoughts about the YouTuber when Daniel Cormier asked him on a YouTube video. At first, Weidman wasn’t sure if Jake Paul would have taken up his challenge. But he admitted that there is money written all over this fight.

“I don’t know if he would [fight me] either,” the former middleweight champion told Daniel Cormier, while admitting that he’s not the only one who wants to fight Jake Paul. “It’ll be a big money fight for me. Everyone’s dying for that fight. I would love that opportunity. I think I would beat his a–.” Well, the current landscape doesn’t indicate that Weidman’s going to get a Jake Paul fight.

When Anderson Silva fought Jake Paul, reports claimed that he got paid pretty well. Understandably, everyone wants that kind of paycheck. But as it stands, Paul is looking for bigger fights as the status of his opponents is getting bigger and bigger with each fight.