The December fight card, headlined by Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua, just added a bout nobody asked for between a pair of UFC legends.
Last week, it became official that Paul was switching from a laughable matchup against Gervonta Davis to a very dangerous one against former unified heavyweight king Anthony Joshua. The matchup with the Englishman has earned Paul a lot of praise from fighters around combat sports because of the high risk. Nevertheless, it is still a freak show booking that few fight fans ever expected.
Well, for a card headlined by an odd pairing, it makes sense to have other weird bookings in some of the undercard matchups. On Friday morning, MVP Promotions revealed some of the other bouts that will take place on the Dec. 19 event in Miami, and one of them is sure to get an eye roll from long-time UFC fans.
In a cruiserweight matchup, UFC legends Anderson Silva and Tyron Woodley will face off. Silva is arguably the greatest fighter in middleweight history, while Woodley had an outstanding run as welterweight champion at the tail end of the 2010s.
The pair of former champions never fought in the Octagon, and it was never a matchup that fight fans pushed to see when they were near their prime. Especially since their divisions were 15 pounds apart. Now, with Silva having turned 50 and Woodley hitting 43, both in April, a matchup makes even less sense. Especially in boxing instead of mixed martial arts.
Oddly enough, both have transitioned to boxing after leaving the UFC, and each has suffered losses to Jake Paul. Woodley has lost twice to the influencer turned boxer, with the second being a knockout defeat four years ago. Silva was defeated by Paul via unanimous decision the following year.
