"Where is he going? What is his end goal?" - Ben Askren discusses why Jake Paul's events have dipped in PPV performance
Jake Paul has struggled to repeat the pay-per-view success that he had in his first career pay-per-view main event. His opponent from that fight, retired mixed martial artist Ben Askren, shared his thoughts on the decline in sales.
During an interview with Submission Radio, Askren was asked how big a fight between Paul and mixed martial arts legend Nate Diaz could be. He stated:
"I don't think it's that big. I think people were interested in 'can this guy Jake actually fight' and now that he's established that he's at least alright, people aren't that interested. It's like 'he can fight, he's a pretty good boxer, but I'm out.' People get really into people's stories or following their paths."
Askren continued:
"When they're going for a title, it's like 'oh this is this up and comer and he's on his way to fight for a title' and they start following that journey that athlete is making. Right now, Jake's journey seems to be meandering a little bit. Where is he going? What is the end goal? Nobody really knows and without a clear path to follow that's where a lot of fans get lost."
Askren's comments are interesting as Paul's pay-per-view sales have been on the decline since their fight reportedly did 1,500,000 buys on Triller. Despite his next three fights taking place on Showtime, he has failed to come anywhere near that level of success.
His first fight with Tyron Woodley did 500,000 buys, while their rematch did just 200,000 buys. The numbers for his most recent bout with Anderson Silva have yet to be released, however, Paul hinted that they were in the same range as the second fight with Woodley.
Watch Ben Askren discuss Jake Paul's boxing journey below (starting at the 22:00 mark):
Jake Paul discusses pay-per-view performance of fight with Anderson Silva
Jake Paul emerged victorious via unanimous decision in his boxing match against Anderson Silva. While the official pay-per-view numbers have yet to be released, Paul shared an unofficial estimate.
Jake Paul vs Anderson Silva scorecard 🥊 #PaulSilva #Boxing https://t.co/0Mw5Flo53h
Speaking on IMPAULSIVE, his brother Logan's podcast, Jake Paul stated:
"I think it'll probably go around 200 to 300 thousand, which is kind of upsetting."
Paul shared that he believes that Silva's claim that he was knocked out may have tanked the fight. He stated that the pre-buys were doing well prior to the news, but that the news may have led fans to believe the fight would be called off. Prior to the matchup, he had two fights called off, and he speculated fans may have felt he was incapable of putting an event together.
Watch Jake Paul discuss the pay-per-view performance of his fight with Anderson Silva below (starting at the 41:52 mark):