While some people in the MMA community are cringing at the thought of retired MMA fighter Ben Askren agreeing to a boxing match against Jake Paul, ‘Funky’ has been explaining why he’s confident that he’ll emerge victorious against the YouTube star.
“I did this for free a whole bunch of times in high school and now they want to pay me a whole bunch of money. I thought this was just fun,” Askren told TMZ Sports. “I did this for a fun time. I think combat is fun.
“Why wouldn’t I do this again if I’m getting paid a whole bunch of money? When I thought about it that way, the answer to me was obvious.”
Askren also made it clear that despite Paul being 3-0 as a boxer, that he’s less than impressed by what he’s seen from him in the ring.
“I don’t know why people actually think he’s good. I watched the Nate Robinson fight. I thought, ‘Holy s–t, these guys are bad.’ They’re really bad.
“So I really don’t see why people think he’s good at boxing. He’s a YouTube star who decided he wants to do a few boxing matches. He’s not a boxer.”
That being said, Askren doesn’t think it’s going to be a quick night at the office for him on April 17th, but he does expect to find a finish before the eight-round bout is over.
“It won’t be more that I hit him and he goes down, but over the course of the eight rounds, he realizes, ‘Holy s–t, I’m in a real fight. I don’t really like this. I’m just some spoiled rich kid. I’m just gonna find an easy way out.’ It’s gonna be like a TKO, maybe round six, round seven. Something to that effect.”
