Jake Paul reveals he was supposed to wrestle Ben Askren after their boxing match
Jake Paul's triumph over Ben Askren continues to be the hottest topic in the world of combat sports. And Jake Paul just added to the heat surrounding the topic with a single Tweet, claiming that he was supposed to clash with Ben Askren yet again. Only this time, Jake Paul was supposed to enter Ben Askren's territory.
Revealing what the original plans were, Jake Paul wrote:
"What I love about power is having the ability to put people on and choosing not to. Ben and I were supposed to have a wrestling PPV match after their fight which would have easily generated millions of dollars. I'm choosing not to do it anymore because he’s a f**king loser."
In what became the most anticipated boxing event of 2021 thus far, Jake Paul furthered his undefeated boxing streak to 3-0 by knocking 'Funky' out in the very first round.
The fight had garnered a lot of hype, what with all the celebrities involved and the MMA vs YouTuber angle built around it. UFC President Dana White had even claimed he would "bet a million dollars" that Jake Paul, a YouTuber, would not be able to beat Ben Askren, a legit mixed martial artist.
American rapper Snoop Dogg had responded to Dana White's claim asking him to double the stakes as he sided with Jake Paul.
However, after the fight ended and Snoop Dogg called the UFC President out, Dana White clarified that he had not placed any illegal bets on Ben Askren.
Will Jake Paul be able to achieve a similar result in a wrestling PPV event against Ben Askren?
Although the event is but a fantasy (as Jake Paul made clear through his Tweet), one can't help but entertain the possibility of a wrestling match-up between Askren and Paul.
It seems highly unlikely that Jake Paul will be able to repeat what he did to Ben Askren inside the boxing ring on the wrestling mat. Furthermore, Ben Akren himself had claimed on an episode of Logan Paul's 'Implausive' podcast that he would lose to Jake Paul if he was a good boxer. But the same cannot be said for a wrestling bout.
Ben Askren is a highly decorated wrestler. The Pan-American champion represented the United States of America in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he reached the 1/8 finals. Askren is also a two-time NCAA Division-1 champion. Askren employed his wrestling throughout his MMA career to become a multi-promotional champion.
Yet, Askren announced his retirement from professional mixed martial arts back in 2019 due to hip-replacement surgery. And after his loss against Jake Paul, Ben Askren reaffirmed that he will not be stepping inside any sort of cage again.