By Sam Brookes

Copyright independent

Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman are ready to settle their feud once and for all on the undercard of Jake Paul’s exhibition bout with Gervonta Davis.

The two UFC icons met twice in 2013, with Weidman emerging victorious on both occasions in very different circumstances.

His first win saw him end Silva’s seven-year middleweight reign with a stunning second-round knockout. The rematch ended in the same round, but only after Silva suffered a broken leg when Weidman checked a kick.

They will now meet again but this time it will be over six rounds inside a boxing ring.

Silva and Weidman are far from the only UFC stars to try their hand at boxing. Let’s look at how six other fighters fared when they switched the Octagon for the squared circle.

Mike Perry made a promising start to his MMA career by winning his first nine bouts.

However, he struggled to kick on as he looked to move into title contention and lost seven of his last 10 fights to end with an overall record of 14-8.

After finishing with the UFC in 2021, Perry opted to try other combat sports.

He first went into bare-knuckle boxing and won his first five contests, beating the likes of Michael Page, Luke Rockhold and Eddie Alvarez.

This set up the opportunity for him to box Jake Paul in July 2024. Perry had lost by knockout to Kenneth McNeil in his only previous boxing match nine years earlier, and he came up well short against Paul.

Perry was dominated from the outset before eventually being stopped in the sixth round.

He has since returned to bare-knuckle fighting and scored a knockout win over fellow ex-UFC star Jeremy Stephens earlier this month.

We move swiftly on to another fighter who has shared the ring with Jake Paul – twice.

Tyron Woodley reached the top of the mountain in the UFC when he knocked out Robbie Lawler for the welterweight title inside the first round in 2016.

He held onto his belt for almost three years before being outpointed by Kamaru Usman. That loss sparked a downturn in Woodley’s career as he suffered four straight defeats before walking away from the UFC in early 2021.

Just months later, Paul came calling and Woodley accepted the challenge.

Woodley and Paul slugged it out over eight rounds in August 2021, with the latter just getting the nod via split decision.

After a close first battle, the rematch was arranged for December 2021. This time, Paul got a far more conclusive victory as he landed a huge overhand right in the sixth round that left Woodley unconscious on the canvas.

Four years on, Woodley has not set foot in a boxing ring again, and at 43, it seems his fighting days are over.

We may as well move on to another ex-Jake Paul opponent, Nate Diaz.

Diaz famously had two fights with Conor McGregor in 2016, pulling off a stunning upset in their first meeting before losing on points in the rematch.

Inactivity plagued his final days with the UFC as he only had four more fights in six years after his second clash against McGregor.

After rounding off his time in the Octagon with a submission win over Tony Ferguson, Diaz turned to boxing and landed a fight with Jake Paul in August 2023.

The veteran southpaw gave a good account of himself but suffered a knockdown on his way to a lopsided points defeat.

The following year he renewed his rivalry with Jorge Masvidal. The pair had faced one another back at UFC 244 in 2019, with Masvidal winning after the doctor called a halt to the contest at the end of the third round.

Diaz exacted revenge in their boxing rematch, though, edging a majority decision.

Diaz has not fought again since, but a rubber match with Masvidal cannot be ruled out.

Tony Ferguson fought Diaz in the latter stages of his UFC career when he was no longer the force he once was. But, at the peak of his powers, Ferguson was one of the best fighters on the UFC roster.

At one stage he won 12 straight bouts, a run that saw him claim the interim lightweight title.

However, a damaging knockout defeat by Justin Gaethje in May 2020 proved to be the beginning of the end of Ferguson at the highest level as he went on an eight-fight losing streak.

His final defeat came at the hands of Michael Chiesa last August, and Ferguson opted to switch over to boxing in 2025.

His maiden boxing match came on a Misfits card against TikTok sensation Salt Papi in August.

Ferguson overwhelmed his opponent with a flurry of punches in the third round that forced the referee to step in as he claimed his first victory in six years.

Ferguson is now 41, but has indicated that he could feature on another Misfits show in the future.

Luke Rockhold snatched the UFC middleweight title away from Chris Weidman a decade ago but very little has gone right for him since.

His reign lasted just six months before he was knocked out by Britain’s Michael Bisping in the first round of his first title defence.

Rockhold won just one of his four UFC fights after that as he failed to get back into the title mix.

Like Mike Perry, Rockhold also went down the bare-knuckle route first, and the pair clashed in April 2023.

Rockhold’s shortcomings were laid bare as he was stopped in the second round after taking significant punishment.

He then tried his luck at boxing earlier his year, agreeing to a fight with former UFC contender Darren Till.

Till dominated from the outset and knocked Rockhold out cold in the third round to cap off an impressive display.

Rockhold just turned 41 and it seems likely his brief foray into boxing is behind him.

British star Darren Till has been the most successful crossover fighter on this list.

At one point, Till appeared destined to win a UFC title after an 18-fight unbeaten run at the start of his MMA career.

However, it all came crashing down when he was submitted by Tyron Woodley when challenging for the welterweight championship in 2018.

Till would lose four of his next five fights and has not campaigned in the UFC since 2022.

His career seemed to be petering out, but he returned in an exhibition boxing match last June, knocking out Mohammad Mutie in the second round of their fight in Dubai. That got the juices flowing and he subsequently signed a deal with Misfits Boxing.

Till was initially due to fight Tommy Fury at the start of this year but the grudge match fell through after Fury pulled out, leaving Till to face MMA star Anthony Taylor instead.

Till scored a sixth-round stoppage win and followed that up four months later by earning a decision victory over Darren Stewart.

His most eye-catching win came in his last outing when he took on Luke Rockhold. The two men could easily have met in the UFC but just missed each other. Till set about making up for lost time once the opening bell went in August, hurting Rockhold on several occasions before finishing him in the third round.

It has been a sensational 2025 for Till, and he could have one more fight before the end of the year.

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