Former UFC fighter Ben Askren revealed his interest in fighting YouTube celebrity Jake Paul.
This weekend hobby-boxer Jake Paul will be fighting former NBA player Nate Robinson on the undercard of Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. (which you can stream here). Paul got famous from YouTube on the heels of his brother Logan Paul (who has also dabbled in celebrity pugilism).
Recently Paul, who is 1-0 as a pro boxer, spoke to The Mayweather Channel and claimed that he wanted to take on a couple of UFC fighters.
“I want to take UFC fighters like Ben Askren, like (Jorge) Masvidal, whoever it is and bring them over to boxing,” said Paul (ht MMA Fighting). “I want to fight Conor McGregor eventually. Whoever wants to get in the boxing ring with me, I want to be able to do it and beat them.”
Ben Askren recently spoke to MMA Fighting about this callout from Paul.
“Jake Paul wants to box me,” said Askren. “I don’t know, I’m not a boxer but I could beat up a bum YouTube celebrity.”
“It would be something to do because you could say I did it,” Askren continued. “I don’t gotta go box f**king Roy Jones and get my ass whooped or nothing. But I could box some YouTube bum and get paid for it? What a tremendous livelihood.”
Though not known for his striking, Askren is a former Bellator and ONE welterweight champion. Before transitioning to MMA, Askren was a highly decorated NCAA wrestler and member of USA Wrestling. He’s also an accomplished disc golf player.
In 2019 Askren brought his 18-0 (1 NC) MMA record over to the UFC, in what was described as a trade involving former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson going to ONE.
His first UFC bout was against former UFC welterweight champ Robbie Lawler. Askren won that bout, which included some controversy, via technical submission.
After this Askren was matched up with Jorge Masvidal. Askren lost after being KO’d by a flying knee at the five second mark. That ending would become one of the highlights of the year (in all sports) for 2019.
Three months after that loss Askren was choked out by Demian Maia. He announced his retirement from the sport shortly after.