UFC legend Anderson Silva has refused to rule out the possibility of facing Jake Paul in the boxing ring after impressing against Bruno Machado.
The retired MMA fighter, 47, rolled back the years against BJJ black belt Machado, 34, on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather's exhibition bout with 'Dangerous' Don Moore in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.
Nicknamed 'The Spider', Silva dropped Machado after a couple of crunching body shots and an overhand right found their mark at the end of the fifth round.
The Brazilian looked virtually untouchable all night as he continued to make the switch to boxing look like a stroll in the park.
Back in December Paul fought Silva's former colleague Tyron Woodley, stopping him in the sixth round.
And, speaking ahead of the fight, the 47-year-old reiterated his desire to step in there with the 25-year-old - although even he doesn't know what's next.
Silva told Sports Illustrated: “It’s possible.
“People need to respect the Paul brothers.
Anderson Silva is a former UFC middleweight champion
"Those kids are talented, and they’ve opened people’s eyes about the good and bad in combat sports.
"I’m preparing my body for a challenge. We’ll see what happens.”
Paul, 25, is looking for his next opponent, having recently knocked Woodley, 40, out in their rematch.
He, like many, was a fan of Silva growing up, and has previously opened the door to fighting the Brazilian MMA icon.
He previously said: "Look, anything is possible, I didn't initially think of that but hey, like I said my saying is anyone, anytime, any place.
"But I think it would be more interesting to see Anderson Silva fight Roy Jones Jr on my undercard which is what I like originally tweeted out there.
"Because he beat one legendary boxer lets see if he can beat another legendary boxer and maybe there's a fight for us down the road.
"I think there's talks of him maybe fighting my brother, but Anderson's a nice guy and I respect him as a legend.
"Anderson's 46-years-old and I thought he did an incredible job, man.
"He was sticking, moving, bouncing around the ring, having fun, throwing combos, he's long and lanky.
"And to come in there and beat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, whose what over 50 wins in the ring as a world champion.
"This just goes to show MMA strikers are also great boxers and I think a lot of people forget that.
"That is the first skill that MMA fighters learn if they're going to learn how to fight is boxing, so I thought he looked amazing."
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