ANDERSON SILVA has shockingly revealed that he was knocked-out twice in sparring ahead of his fight with Jake Paul.
The pair are set to go head-to-head in Phoenix, Arizona this weekend as the 47-year-old looks to continue his impressive start to life in boxing after a long time in UFC.
With Paul looking to claim one of the biggest scalps of his career, Silva has a challenge on his hands to make it five wins in six fights.
And his preparation will not encourage his fans as the UFC legend revealed he was knocked out twice in sparring ahead of the bout, with his team then contradicting his account of what happened.
Silva told: “I’m training hard for win — I’m training with the good boxers, high-level, and five guys come to help me.
“And the last sparring with [my sparring partner], he is knocked me out two times, and when I finish my training, I talked to my coach and even said, ‘coach, let me tell you something, why the guys knock me out two times?’
“And the coach said, ‘You need to prepare for war, and you prepare for war.’â€
But Silva’s longtime coach Luiz Carlos Dorea told MMA Fighting that Silva’s story was incorrect, and he was not knocked out.
He said: “What I can say is that didn’t happen,†he said. “Thank God we follow all the steps in training and Anderson did excellent sparring [sessions]. He’s 100 percent for the fight.”;
Despite the denial, The Arizona Department of Gaming, which oversees the state’s boxing commission, said they would be “looking into the matter.”;
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It’s far from perfect preparation for Silva as he looks to hand The Problem Child his first loss.
Paul was supposed to be fighting Tommy Fury in August but plans fell through after an issue with the Brit’s US visa.
A bout with Hasim Rahman Jr was also set up, but that also fell through due to a problem making weight on the heavyweight fighter’s side.
The Youtuber-turned-boxer has not fought since December when he knocked out ex-UFC champion Tyron Woodley.
