Its cute that Jake thinks he is a real
fighter, Im gonna beat him up April 17 https://t.co/XcsJ8WhmR3— Funky (@Benaskren)
January 26, 2021
Retired mixed martial artist Ben Askren is
making his return to combat sports to face YouTube star Jake Paul in a
professional boxing bout on April 17.
Both Askren and Paul announced the matchup on social media
following an initial report from
ESPN. A weight class for the bout, which will take place under
the Triller Fight Club banner, has not been determined. The
combatants will fight in a 20-by-20 ring and wear 10-ounce gloves.
The event will air on pay-per-view, but a location has not been
finalized.
Askren
retired from mixed martial arts in November 2019 to have hip
replacement surgery and underwent a successful procedure this past
August. The 36-year-old known as “Funky” ended his MMA tenure after
back-to-back losses to Jorge
Masvidal and Demian Maia
in the UFC. A two-time NCAA wrestling champion at the University of
Missouri, Askren was unbeaten in his first 20 fights, capturing
titles in Bellator MMA and One Championship along the way. He is
not, however, known for his standup abilty. Askren has bested the
likes of Robbie
Lawler, Shinya Aoki,
Douglas
Lima, Andrey
Koreshkov and Lyman Good
over the course of his career.
“I know Jake Paul is
enjoying pretending he is a fighter,” Askren said. “I think on
April 17 he is going to have a rude awakening to what being a
fighter is really like. Jake has led a privileged life and doesn’t
really know what the meaning of being a fighter is. I’m going to
put his dreams to an end.”
Paul, 24, is a YouTube star, actor and rapper with more than 14
million followers on Instagram. The younger brother of Logan Paul
made his boxing debut in January 2020, when he defeated fellow
YouTube celebrity AnEsonGib — whose given name is Ali Loui
Al-Fakhri — by first round TKO. His next win, a knockout of former
NBA player Nate Robinson on the Mike Tyson-Roy Jones Jr. undercard
in November, went viral.
“Ben
Askren is a two-time NCAA champion, a world champion in two
different global mixed martial arts organizations and has less
losses on his record than Conor
McGregor,” Paul said.
“Me, on the other hand, I started boxing two years ago and I’m
still going to knock his ass out faster than [Jorge] Masvidal.
These MMA guys think because they throw punches they know how to
box. The world complained because I knocked out a basketball player
and not a real fighter. So now I’m giving the people what they want
by taking on a ‘real fighter.’ After Ben Askren is
added to my knockout meme collection, what can anybody say? Thank
you to Triller Fight Club for giving me the platform to once again
put a man to sleep. April 17, it’s lights out for Askren.”
Triller’s last event, the aforementioned Tyson vs. Jones Jr. card,
reportedly exceeded more than 1 million pay-per-view buys for
the exhibition contest between the two boxing stars. The upcoming
card is expected to feature other boxers, MMA fighters and
celebrities competing in boxing matches on the undercard of Askren
vs. Paul.