Tag: boxing news

Ahead of an April 17. professional boxing match between polarizing YouTuber, Jake Paul and former UFC welterweight contender, Ben Askren — renowned Tristar MMA head coach, Firas Zahabi has given his thoughts on the spectacle, and he’s likely siding against the consensus pick.

Headlining a Triller pay-per-view showcase in Atlanta, Georgia at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Paul makes his third professional boxing appearance following a pair of knockout wins over fellow content creator, AnEsonGib, and former NBA dunk contest feature, Nate Robinson — the most recenty of which came via a stunning, highlight-reel KO on the undercard of Triller’s promoted, Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. event last November. 

For Askren, the former ONE Championship and Bellator welterweight champion makes his first combat sports appearance since his third and final UFC walk at UFC Fight Night Kallang back in October of 2019 where he dropped a third round rear-naked choke defeat to former middleweight and welterweight title challenger, Demian Maia. In need of hip surgery, Askren called time on his professional mixed martial arts career in the weeks following the main event clash.

Drawing its fair share of critics and criticism ever since its announcement, Paul vs. Askren has become a vocal conversation surrounding the combat sports community over the last couple of months, with the pair involved in a pre-fight press conference last Friday ahead of the April 17. matchup.

Trading their respective barbs during the press event, Paul and Askren were involved in a face-off scuffle afterward, with Askren pushing his hand into Paul’s face, who reacted by slapping Askren in the midsection, before pushing the wrestler in the back. Paul infamously claimed after the fact he had restrained himself from knocking Askren unconscious during the altercation.

Giving his thoughts on the main event slot recently, Zahabi, the renowned head trainer of former two-weight UFC champion, Georges St-Pierre — going against the grain largely, predicting a victory for Askren.

“I think Ben Askren wins,” Zahabi said during a recent podcast appearance. “Here’s why, I saw Jake Paul’s last fight, he’d knocked out some guy with a couple overhand rights, stunned him a few times, dropped him. But here’s where Jake Paul — I don’t think he knows what he’s getting into. Number one, Ben Askren is a wrestler, yes and his forte is not striking, we all know that — he’s not the greatest striker. But he’s been in there with killers, he’s been in there with like legitimately dangerous human beings. One of them being Robbie Lawler, Douglas Lima — I can go on and on the list is super long.“

“He’s been in there with real killers, and I know he didn’t use boxing, but he took shots from these guys,” Zahabi explained. “Not everyone got to land a shot on him, but if you remember the fight with Robbie Lawler, Robbie Lawler had him on the floor, he had Ben Askren on the floor and he laid into him, some serious amount of damage. Four, five, six, seven shots maybe, I can’t remember. But it was some serious shots.“

“Let’s call it fifteen years he’s been striking, let’s call it ten years, let’s be reserved here,” Zahabi said. “It’s not only boxing offence that’s the issue — I guarantee you that he takes a shot better than Jake, I can guarantee you that, I’m guaranteeing you that right now.“

“So Jake’s gonna go in there, and in the first two, three rounds he’s gonna be dancing around and he’s gonna jab Askren he’s gonna look alright, he’s gonna look good, Askren’s gonna hit him and back it’s gonna be a give and take. But here’s what Jake doesn’t know, Askren has proven that he’s got an incredible chin.“

According to Zahabi, however, if Paul lands a massive shot to stop Askren — well then credit will have to be given to Jorge Masvidal who stopped Askren with a five-second flying knee back in July of 2019.

“How is he (Paul) gonna pick and poke, stick and move and stay away from Askren — once they lock up, once they lock up, I guarantee you, Jake’s battery is going to drain.“

“That’s what I’ve got guys, I think Ben’s going to win, unless he gets hit with a freak shot and gets knocked out ’cause his chin is bad — I would still say that’s on (Jorge) Masvidal, Masvidal won that fight for Jake Paul, I doubt it though. I think his chin is gonna be fine and he’s gonna maul him.“

Involved in a post-press conference scuffle ahead of their professional boxing matchup on April 17. — polarizing YouTuber, Jake Paul has boldly claimed he “stopped” himself from knocking out former Bellator and ONE Championship welterweight titleholder, Ben Askren during the altercation.

Set to make his third professional boxing walk on April 17 under the Triller banner, Ohio native, Paul has secured himself a matchup against three-fight UFC alum, Askren — hoping to add the wrestling ace to prior victories over fellow content creator, AnEsonGib and NBA dunk contest feature, Nate Robinson.

Taking part in a pre-fight press conference to promote the event, Paul traded barbs with Askren, even calling Askren’s former opponent, Jorge Masvidal on FaceTime to poke fun at the latter — with Masvidal questioning “is that dude (Ben Askren) still alive” amid his June 2019 flying-knee knockout win over Askren.

Engaging in a face-off post-conference, Paul and Askren got involved in a physical altercation, with Askren pushing his hand toward Paul’s face, who retaliated by slapping Askren to the midsection, before pushing the veteran.

Speaking with ESPN MMA reporter, Marc Raimondi following the conference, Paul reflected on the incident, making a quite bold claim that he stopped himself from knocking Askren out.

“Clearly he’s (Ben Askren) pissed off,” Paul said. “He turns away, goes to put his hand in my face, boom, pull-counter right to the body. He’s lucky I didn’t knock him out. I stopped myself from knocking him out. Everyone says he has this dumpy power, this wrestling strength, and all this athleticism. This guy is made of flubber. Literally, when I pushed him it was like there was nothing there. He flew six feet. That’s not how a wrestler’s base is. And he tried to sucker punch me and he couldn’t even hit me, so what’s going to happen in the fight. He barely nicked my face.“

Whilst he’s got himself occupied with Askren for the time being, Paul has made no secret of his intentions to score a future boxing clash against former two-weight UFC champion, ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor, and claimed the Dubliner should’ve taken a fight with him rather than his January tie with two-time opponent, Dustin Poirier.

“If I was Conor (McGregor) he should’ve tooken (sic) the fifty million I offered him to take ‘the easier’ fight,” Paul said. “He got ten million with a little bit of the backend from the UFC event against Dustin (Poirier) but he lost. So why not take fifty million to fight a YouTuber? That’s what he should’ve done, quite frankly. Now he has to fight his way back. That’s the most embarrassing loss of his career. He got knocked out. TKOed. He should’ve taken the Jake Paul fight. More money, more hype.“

As for McGregor, the former lightweight and featherweight gold holder is widely expected to round out his trilogy with Poirier this summer at UFC 264 on July 10. — and Paul has laid out plans to call for a clash with Poirier if the Lafayette native gets the better of McGregor again.

“I just think McGregor has that name where he will be big in this sport for a while,” Paul explained. “But if he loses to Poirier, I’ll be like, ‘Yo, let me fight Poirier’. Why not? He has to win in his own sport first and then maybe we can figure something out. I’m Conor’s money fight right now, as crazy as that sounds. Khabib (Nurmagomedov) retired, he’s all pissed off about it. Jake Paul vs. Conor is the money fight. It’s funny, what world are we living in where that even makes sense?” (H/T MMA Fighting)