Daniel Cormier: Jake Paul 'not a joke,' but Anderson Silva wins the fight

Based off experience, Daniel Cormier thinks Anderson Silva will beat Jake Paul.

Former UFC middleweight king Silva (3-1) marks Paul’s sternest test to date in the boxing ring. The pair will square off in the headliner of a Showtime pay-per-view event Oct. 29 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz.

Cormier, who competed against Silva in the octagon before, won’t tear down the YouTube star. He thinks Paul (5-0) has earned his stripes, but points to Silva’s win over former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. as a bigger accomplishment than anything Paul has done in the ring.

“I think Anderson Silva wins the fight,” Cormier told ESPN. “If Jake Paul wins – honestly he’s a kid that’s in his prime, and I say that knowing that now Jake Paul can fight. The guy can fight. I’m done being of the people that say this kid’s a joke. This kid is not a joke. The kid can fight, and there are many reasons as to why he can fight. But we talk about Anderson, all that he has done – Anderson beating Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is bigger and better than anything (Paul’s) ever done.

“That is much different than beating Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley twice and whatever the YouTube guy was, because those guys were wrestlers that learned to box. Chavez never wrestled. He was a guy that picked up boxing gloves as a kid and fought all the way to professionals, made a whole bunch of money and everything. That is the biggest moment between the two and the biggest accomplishment between the two.”

In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Paul predicted his fight with Silva would be his highest-selling one to date, potentially drawing up to 700,000 pay-per-view buys.