ATLANTA – Ben Askren’s boxing match with Jake Paul could not have gone worse than for the former title holder of Bellator and ONE.
Askren was disappointed on Saturday night, to say the least, after his fight ended in a scuffle when he suffered a first round of TKO loss to the YouTube star in the Triller Fight Club header at Mercedes-Benz Stadium suffered.
It was a one-sided attack, while Paul dropped a bomb from a fist that dropped Askren. He stood up but could not answer the referee intelligently and forced him to blow it off.
Askren took part in a virtual media session after the match and expressed shame about the result.
“I did not let the MMA community down, but let the world down,” Askren told reporters after the fight. “People hate Jake Paul, and they wanted me to make him miserable.”
Sorry world 🙁
– Funky (@Benaskren) 18 April 2021
Askren, 36, has retired to fight Paul after undergoing hip replacement surgery. Askren, a former Olympic wrestler and two-time collegiate national champion, was never known for his strike during his MMA career.
It showed on Saturday night against Paul (24), who shifted his professional record to 3-0.