“I don’t think it’s going to be good for MMA and he’s going to get chinned. But, it’s going to be funny to see.”
Leon Edwards is the second fighter to pick Jake Paul to KO Ben Askren in their upcoming boxing match on April 17, and ‘Rocky’ thinks the result will be disastrous for MMA.
Edwards has no confidence in Askren’s boxing ability and believes the former ONE FC and Bellator welterweight champion will be completely out of his element in the boxing ring — even against a vastly more inexperienced fighter.
“He’s going to get knocked out, I’m serious,” Edwards predicted in a recent interview with TalkSport’s Alex McCarthy.
“It’s going to be bad for MMA, man! I don’t know who agreed to this [laughs]. I don’t think it’s going to be good for MMA and he’s going to get chinned. But, it’s going to be funny to see.”
Askren isn’t exactly known for his boxing chops, but the 36-year-old possesses a wealth of experience against elite-level competition in MMA and certainly knows how to perform under pressure.
Paul, meanwhile, is 2-0 against unranked competition but has a ton of hype behind him following his viral KO of Nate Robinson last December.
Askren vs. Paul will headline Triller’s Fight Club pay-per-view on April 17 at a TBD venue in Atlanta, Georgia.
As for Edwards, the top-three welterweight is scheduled to meet Belal Muhammad in the UFC Fight Night 187 main event on March 13 at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas.