Bound to Backfire: 0% chance Jake Paul KOs Ben Askren

(ufc.com)

You guys do realize Ben Askren isn’t Nate Robinson right? And that Jake Paul isn’t a good boxer? Yes, Askren has maybe the worst striking and most one-dimensional MMA style in UFC history, but he was still in the UFC. I’ve heard some people talk down about this bout, not for the obvious reason of it being a YouTuber carefully selecting his opponents to look like a legitimate boxer, but because of Askren. There is a narrative going around that Askren is an easy matchup and not a legitimate fighter. This absolutely baffles me because it’s actually the opposite. Ben Askren is a former olympic wrestler who managed to win multiple world championships in other MMA promotions not named UFC. Askren has been locked in a cage with real, trained strikers like Jay Hieron, Douglas Lima, and Lyman Good and didn’t get knocked out. And yes, I KNOW Askren can’t take him down in a boxing match, but that doesn’t shake my confidence in him being able to get out of the way of a Jake Paul right hand. People who think Askren will get knocked out only know him from this.

Askren may not win the bout, as he is a 36 year old man coming off total hip replacement surgery, but if you’re expecting Jorge Masvidal 2.0 to show up, I think you’ll be waiting all night.

Also isn’t it funny that even in an article defending Askren, I’ve still gotta show that picture of him half-dead.