Commission says Anderson Silva is fit to fight Jack Paul

Phoenix – Anderson Silva was allowed to compete in a boxing match on Saturday against Jake Paul after comments in a recent interview turned the tables on the fight.

The Arizona Boxing and MMA Commission agreed to allow Silva to fight during a private meeting Thursday night, after the MMA legend was required to undergo additional medical exams the day before.

Committee chair Scott Fletcher said at the meeting that he attended Paul Silva’s press conference on Thursday and was impressed by how Silva was able to express himself while answering questions. Fletcher said Silva underwent an “authentic” MRI and was “completely comfortable” allowing the former UFC middleweight champion to fight.

Dr. Ara Feinstein, the commissioner who is also a senior surgeon and physician, said he had reviewed Silva’s neurological report and MRI and had not seen any problems with them.

“When I look at all of these things together, I have no more fears of Mr. Silva fighting on Saturday than I have of any other fighter,” Feinstein said.

Silva, 47, told MMA Weekly in an interview that was taped last month and broadcast earlier this week that he was eliminated twice during his training camp, raising red flags. Silva’s team sent out a statement this week stating that Silva’s mother tongue is not English (he is from Brazil and his first language is Portuguese) and that Silva was speaking poorly.

On Wednesday, Silva told ESPN that he was only joking in the interview and that the committee forced him to undergo more medical tests after commissioners saw the comments.

“When I talk about Knockout, this is just to help [compañeros de equipo] that helps me [animarlos]”I was just kidding,” Silva said. “It’s crazy, but it’s okay.”

Paul said after Thursday’s press conference that he had “no worries” about how the match would go and was confident he would fight Silva on Saturday.