Anderson Silva vs. Tyron Woodley: Who has the edge heading into their fight?

They each lost to Jake Paul. Now, they turn to each other.

Former MMA stars Anderson Silva and Tyron Woodley will clash over six boxing rounds Friday night at Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida as part of the Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua card.

To this day, Woodley is the only opponent who fought Paul twice, losing the first bout by split decision and the second by a vicious knockout less than four months apart in 2021. Silva lost to Paul via unanimous decision in October 2022. Prior to that, the MMA legend scored a split-decision win over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in June 2021 before quickly knocking out Tito Ortiz that September.

Will Silva pot-shot his way to victory via the cleaner punches? Or will Woodley redeem himself in the ring for his first boxing victory? DAZN News analyzes who has the edge heading into their cruiserweight fight.

Boxing Styles

At 50, Anderson Silva has kept himself in solid shape and can still pot-shot cleanly on offense and be elusive defensively at times.

In his two fights against Jake Paul, Tyron Woodley, 43, did show a solid overhand right and had success in sequences where he let his hands go, although he could have been aided by higher punch volumes.

That said, both former MMA stars have a suspect guard. Woodley’s guard is too wide, allowing opponents to carve a giant lane through it. Silva will opt to drop his guard altogether, lowering his hands by his waist.

That means both men can be hit … and often.

Silva might have the edge here for being more comfortable in the ring. Plus, his slight reach advantage should help toward outpointing Woodley.

Edge: Silva

Power

Silva’s pointed pressure can bank rounds for his ability to land flush and perhaps unload more significant damage.

But go back to Woodley’s first attempt to defeat Paul. Although he fell short on judges’ scorecards via split decision, Woodley rocked Paul by uncorking a massive overhand right.

The shot sent Paul reeling against the ropes and Woodley looked to be threatening a stoppage before 'The Problem Child' recovered. If Woodley can measure Silva up and walk through a couple of punches, the overhand right might spell the difference in the power department.

Edge: Woodley

Mental Warfare

Silva is the calmer, cooler ring operator and that will be hard to frazzle for Woodley.

While Woodley carries a steely mindset, Silva remains a creative, free-flowing fighter.

He is 50, seven years older than Woodley, and with that age comes fighting wisdom he can imbue.

Edge: Silva

Who has the edge in Silva vs. Woodley?

DAZN News has the slight edge here going to Silva, 2-1. However, slugged for six rounds, this cruiserweight bout could truly go either way, adding some variety and intrigue to the Paul vs. Joshua card.