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Zane Simon & Eddie Mercado are here to breakdown this Saturday’s, April 17th, ‘UFC Vegas 24: WHITTAKER VS. GASTELUM’ event & discuss some of the action from the Triller ‘PAUL VS. ASKREN’ Boxing PPV event. The guys will have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event.

Zane Simon & Eddie Mercado are here tonight, Saturday, April 17th., 2021, to breakdown the ‘UFC VEGAS 24: ‘WHITTAKER VS GASTELUM’ event & discuss some of the action from the Triller ‘PAUL VS. ASKREN’ Boxing PPV event, too. The guys will have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event in the player above, or on our Bloody Elbow Presents YouTube Channel and BE Presents Podcast Network. (SPOILERS…)

Returning to the octagon for the main event, we had a middleweight clash between Robert ‘The Reaper’ Whittaker, aka: Bobby Knuckles, who was coming at this bout on a two-fight win streak, with a 22-5 career record and Kelvin Gastelum, who was coming off a victory to Ian Heinisch at UFC 258, he now carries a 17-6 career record.

In the co-main, we had anticipated a lightweight bout between Drakkar Klose, and Jeremy Stephens, in an odd turn of events that bout was cancelled at the last minute due to an injury Klose incurred due to a shove from Stephens at the weigh-ins.

Prior to that, in our new co-main event, we had a surprising decision victory by fight veteran, Andrei Arlovski over the odds makers favorite, Chase Sherman. Prior to this decision, we had a six out of our ten-bout card end in various types of decisions. Our two finishes included an exciting KO/TKO via left hook and hammerfist at the one and a half minute mark of the second round between Tony Gravely and Anthony Birchak in our opening prelim, as well as a sweet Power Guillotine Choke just two minutes into the first round when Gerald Meerschaert faced Bartosz Gabinski.

Overall, this now whittled down 10-bout card saw that one exhilarating first round KO/TKO finish, as well as that one submission, and eight decisions – including four Split (one technical), and a five-round Decision for our main event. Rounding things out, bonuses for putting forth POTN efforts went to Tony Gravely and Gerald Meerschaert; FOTN honors went to Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum.

Not only did we enjoy a UFC Fight Night, we also had that big PPV Boxing Event/music concert tonight from the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA, promoted by Triller Fight Club and headlined by social media superstar Jake Paul (2-0, 2 KOs) in an eight-round professional bout versus former Bellator and ONE champion Ben Askren, who was making his pro boxing debut.

What a night of fights we have to share with you, join us to discuss all the action…

Here’s a look at the UFC VEGAS 24: ‘WHITTAKER VS GASTELUM’ RESULTS & UPDATED FIGHT RECORDS:

ESPN/ESPN+ MAIN CARD | SAT. APR. 17

10. Robert Whittaker (22-5) DEF Kelvin Gastelum (17-6) – DEC, Unanimous

9. Andrei Arlovski (31-20) DEF Chase Sherman (15-7) – DEC, Unanimous

8. Jacob Malkoun (5-1) DEF Abdul Razak Alhassan (10-4) – DEC, Unanimous

7. Tracy Cortez (9-1) DEF Justine Kish (7-4) – DEC, SPLIT

6. Luis Pena (9-3) DEF Alex Munoz (6-2) – DEC, SPLIT

ESPN/ESPN+ PRELIMS

5. Alexander Romanov (14-0) DEF Juan Espino (10-2) – DEC, TECHNICAL SPLIT

4. Jessica Penne (13-5) DEF Lupita Godinez (5-1) – DEC, SPLIT

3. Gerald Meerschaert (32-14) DEF Bartosz Fabinski (15-5) – SUB, Power Guillotine Choke at 2:00 of Rd 1

2. Austin Hubbard (13-5) DEF Dakota Bush (8-3) – DEC, Unanimous

1. Tony Gravely (21-6) DEF Anthony Birchak (15-8) – KO/TKO, Left Hook & Hammerfist at 1:31 of Rd 2, Total 6:31

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Here’s a look at the TRILLER FIGHT CLUB: ‘JAKE PAUL VS BEN ASKREN’ EVENT RESULTS:

MAIN CARD

• Jake Paul DEF Ben Askren – TKO, 1st Rd (Ref Stoppage), 1:59 Total
• Regis Prograis DEF Ivan Redkach – DEC, Unanimous (60-54, 60-54, 59-54)
• Steve Cunningham DEF Frank Mir – DEC, Unanimous (60-54, 60-54, 58-56)
• Joe Fournier DEF Reykon – TKO (Corner Stoppage), 2nd Rd, 3:00 Total

PRELIMS

• Junior Younan DEF Jeyson Minda – DEC, Unanimous (78-71×3)
• Quinton Randall DEF William Jackson – DEC, Unanimous (80-70 x3)

Be sure to follow Zane – @TheZane Simon & Eddie – @TheEddieMercado; follow @BloodyElbow on twitter for all the latest in MMA happenings. Bloody Elbow Presents is a mixed martial arts podcast network presented to you by Bloody Elbow…

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Musical acts, pyrotechnics, slap fights, celebrity boxing, and a giant robot. Barnum & Bailey would be proud.

Former UFC welterweight Ben Askren got knocked out in the first round of his boxing match against YouTube personality Jake Paul in the Triller Fight Club pay-per-view (PPV) main event last Sat. night (April 17, 2021) inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

It was hard to expect otherwise after watching this.

The show was too long, too goofy, and had far too many production miscues, but it’s hard to get upset at the end result because Askren warned us it would be a “circus” ahead of time. And that was before we found out about the slap fighting.

And the drunk Oscar De La Hoya on commentary.

“People love fist fights. People love circuses. Hope you enjoy tonight,” Askren wrote on Twitter.

He also apologized to the “world” for being unable to defeat Paul, who now improves to 3-0 as a professional boxer with three knockouts. I guess we should also mention that Askren turns 37 in July, is coming off major hip surgery, and is widely-regarded as one of the worst strikers in the history of MMA.

“I said this fight would be easier than the Nate Robinson fight,” Paul said after the match. “At one point I was the underdog. That sounds crazy but I was the underdog. I knew Ben would sit there like a typical MMA fighter and have no head movement. I’m just too powerful.”

Paul was accompanied to the ring by a giant robot.

There was some mild controversy after the stoppage, not uncommon with fights that end early in the opening frame, but after taking the mandatory standing eight count Askren was still looking a little “Funky” on his feet and got saved from additional punishment.

Complete Triller Fight Club results below:

Jake Paul def. Ben Askren via TKO – Round 1, 1:59
Regis Prograis def. Ivan Redkach via technical decision (60-54, 60-54, 59-54)
Steve Cunningham def. Frank Mir via unanimous decision (60-54, 60-54, 58-56)
Joe Fournier def. Reykon via TKO (did not answer bell) – Round 3, 3:00

Triller returns on June 5 in Miami, featuring Evander Holyfield vs. Kevin McBride.