Askren says Paul fight might not happen

Former UFC fighter Ben Askren thinks Jake Paul is scared to box him.

Earlier this month it seemed as though YouTuber Jake Paul had agreed to box former Bellator, ONE and UFC veteran Ben Askren. That announcement came after Paul went 2-0 in pro boxing with a brutal KO over former NBA player Nate Robinson.

Paul followed up his win over Robinson by calling out a number of people in combat sports including Akren, Jorge Masvidal, Dillon Danis and Conor McGregor.

Askren accepted Paul’s invitation and then former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen appeared to leak a Paul vs. Askren poster. Sonnen’s poster said the bout would be on March 28th and would be presented by Triller, the same company that promoted Paul vs. Robinson, underneath a main event of Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr.

However, now it seems we might not see the retired Askren step back into a ring opposite one half of the famous Paul brothers. Askren took to Twitter to share an update on the Paul negotiations, or lack thereof.

“So let me give you a little recap of the situation,” Askren said (ht MMA Fighting). “I’m retired, coaching wrestling, doing some podcasts, buying some bitcoin. Enjoying life. I don’t want to really fight anybody! So in November, this jabroni, Jake Paul calls me out, puts up a poster with my name, ha ha. It’s kinda funny, whatever. No big deal. Well then, a couple weeks later, I get a couple of texts. Then a week after that I get some calls. Then I get an offer. Okay, this guy really wants to fight.

“Am I opposed to making some easy money beating up a YouTuber? Of course I’m not. Right? So what do I do? Sure, Jacob, I’ll fight you. No problem. I accept publicly on Twitter nonetheless. Since then, Jacob’s went silent. Jacob’s kind of a coward. Sorry guys, don’t think the fight is happening.”

Askren retired from MMA last year after going 1-2 in the UFC. Before joining the promotion he won welterweight titles with Bellator and ONE.