"A retired wrestler who can't fight or box" - Nate Diaz dismisses Ben Askren's praise of Jake Paul's boxing skills

Jake Paul (left), Nate Diaz (centre), Ben Askren (right) [@jakepaul, @natediaz209, @ufc via Instagram]

UFC superstar Nate Diaz recently reacted to Ben Askren's comments on Jake Paul being 'kind of good' at boxing.

Diaz took to Twitter to react to an article posted by bjpenn.com comprising Ben Askren's comments about Paul.

He said:

"Coming from a retired wrestler who can't fight or box"

@bjpenndotcom @jakepaul Coming from a retired wrestler who can’t fight or box

Ben Askren fought Jake Paul in a boxing match at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The bout didn't last very long as 'The Problem Child' knocked Askren out cold in the very first round.

KO Jake Paul vs Ben Askren
what most of us expected!💕
@dixiedamelio @jakepaul @charlidamelio https://t.co/sgl3SH6OqZ

Ben Askren endured a disappointing run in the UFC. The American had three fights inside the octagon, winning his first (albeit controversially against Robbie Lawler) and losing the last two in devastating fashion.

In his second UFC fight, Askren took on Jorge Masvidal. 'Gamebred' landed a flying knee on 'Funky' which knocked the former NCAA wrestling champion out, 5 seconds into the bout.

ON THIS DAY in 2019 ...

Jorge Masvidal ...

Ben Askren ...

Greatest flying knee KO ... period

#UFC https://t.co/ypSZGSsXjF

Ben Askren recently appeared on Lex Friedman's podcast and commended Jake Paul for his boxing skills. He said:

"So the thing I said when I went to fight him [Jake Paul] is maybe his good or maybe he's not. We really have no idea to this point, you know. I knew that Tyron Woodley was a lot better in boxing than I was. And so I thought that there is a good likelihood that Tyron beats him up but there is a chance that Jake is kind of good at this. I think what played out is his kind of good at it. And if you saw the way I saw it he was still impressive in his showing and he has obviously put a lot of time into it. So he's not bad, I'll say that much."

Triller files lawsuit against illegal streamers alleging $100 million in damages from Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren card mmafighting.com/2021/4/26/2240… https://t.co/WQ73xnyCkx

Ben Askren believes Khabib Nurmagomedov would have faced problems if the Dagestani fought him during his career

Ben Askren also spoke about fellow wrestling phenom Khabib Nurmagomedov on the podcast. 'Funky' believes the former UFC lightweight champion would have faced some real problems on the ground if the two had fought inside the octagon.

Ben Askren Believes He Would Have Outgrappled Khabib: ‘I Would Be Better Than Him’ middleeasy.com/mma-news/ben-a… via @middleeasy

Askren claimed that he would be better than Nurmagomedov if they had grappled, but also admitted that people would not believe him, considering how his UFC career went.

He said:

“We would grapple and I think I would be better than him. I feel weird saying it because people, like yeah, you’re full of s**t. But no one out grappled him, nobody did. Maybe I’m wrong in this but we look at the best possible candidates. I’m definitely one of them and obviously, I have a small size advantage too.”

Watch the full podcast below: