Ben Askren has reacted to his next opponent, Jake Paul, training with his former opponent Jorge Masvidal—and he’s clearly not worried.
Askren fought Jorge Masvidal in 2019, in his second bout in the UFC’s Octagon. He lost that fight when he chowed down on a flying knee just five seconds into the bout.
After retiring from mixed martial arts competition, Askren is now slated for an eight-round boxing match with Jake Paul, scheduled for April 17.
Ahead of that April 17 fight, Paul has enlisted the help of Masvidal, and the pair recently shared some footage of their training.
He knocked out my opponent @benaskren in 5 seconds and now will help me do it in less time.. @gamebredfighter is teaching me his secrets… April 17th the fight will last less than 4 seconds and then we coming for @natediaz209 pic.twitter.com/IQWeyqh5oj
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) January 28, 2021
It didn’t take long for Askren to react to this training footage from Paul and Masvidal, and he clearly isn’t stressing.
You guys are freaking dorks! https://t.co/rXoF7QC66j
— Funky (@Benaskren) January 28, 2021
“You guys are freaking dorks!” Askren wrote on Twitter.
While Askren is a wrestler first and foremost, and has never been known for his striking, he’s made it clear that he expects to stop Paul when they collide in the ring in April.
“My goal in fighting was never to box somebody,” Askren told TMZ. “My goal was to get through the punches and kicks and get to the takedowns and 99% of the time that worked. Obviously, there is one time it didn’t work, unfortunately [against Masvidal]. My training was very focused on that. That being said, obviously, I’m going to have to change up what I was doing striking wise a little bit. But listen, he’s a f*cking YouTube star. I’m going to beat him up.”
“I have not been blessed with big power,” Askren added. “I’m incredibly slow-twitch muscle fibers. So I don’t think it won’t be more that I hit him and he goes down. But I think it will be more like over the course of eight rounds he realizes, ‘Holy sh*t, I’m in a fight. I don’t really like this. I’m a spoiled rich kid. I’m just going to find an easy way out.’ It’s going to be a TKO. Round six, round seven, something to that effect.”
Who do you think will win the upcoming fight between Ben Askren and Jake Paul?