Jake Paul remains unbeaten as a professional boxer after defeating mixed martial arts (MMA) legend Anderson Silva in an eight-round bout, Saturday in Arizona (Sunday in Manila).

Paul, a social media personality, won via unanimous decision with judges scoring the fight 77-74, 78-73, 78-73. He improved to 6-0 in his professional boxing career.

Paul secured the win by knocking down Silva in the eighth round of their cruiserweight bout.

He later called the win a "surreal moment," having beaten a fighter he had long idolized.

"First and foremost, I wanna say thank you to Anderson. He was my idol growing up, he inspired me to be great. Without him we wouldn’t have had a fight this year. He’s a tough mo-fo, like for real, legend. I have nothing but respect for him," said the 25-year-old Paul.

Silva entered the match with a 3-1 record as a boxer on top of a glittering MMA career. Even at 47 years old, the Brazilian icon tested Paul but did not ask for a rematch after the bout.

"Jake is better than me today," Silva said. "I don’t have nothing to say bad about my opponent. I think everybody needs to respect this kid because he’s doing the best job."