"Who paid the ref?" - MMA Twitter thinks Jake Paul's KO victory over Ben Askren was rigged
Jake Paul created headlines once again with a first-round knockout win over Ben Askren in a boxing bout under the Triller Fight Club banner. The match was a rather short one as Paul knocked out Askren in the first round of the 8-round boxing bout.
Although Askren landed a few shots early on Jake, things quickly changed when the younger Paul sibling came out attacking.
Jake Paul landed a destructive right hand that dropped Ben Askren at 1:18 in the first round and the referee stepped in soon after. The referee called the match in favor of Jake Paul as he decided that Askren would be unable to continue.
An emotional Ben Askren wanted to continue fighting. However, the referee waived it off, citing the reason that Askren was still wobbly on his feet. Askren fell to his knees in disbelief and even started doing push ups to show that he could keep going.
Immediately after the controversial stoppage, the MMA community took to Twitter to react to the event. People have started criticizing the call made to finish the match and many of them are feeling suspicious about the referee's call to end the contest as a pay-off job.
Accusing the fight of being rigged, UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling wrote over Twitter-
Who paid the ref? #PaulAskren
Number #1 ranked UFC welterweight, Colby Covington, also had a similar opinion about the fight.
Sharing a picture of referee Brian Stutts, who was the third man for the Jake Paul vs Ben Askren fight, another fan wrote-
"This is the dude who stopped the Ben Askren vs Jake Paul fight. He should be playing chess in the park, not refereeing boxing matches. He probably copped a bag tho."
Fans were bored by the time Jake Paul and Ben Askren actually fought
The Triller Fight Club event was criticized from the very beginning as it seemingly consisted of more musical performances than actual fights.
While the high caliber event included performances from Justin Bieber, the Black Keys, Snoop, Too Short, Diplo and more, hardcore fight fans were more than a little irritated.
They cannot be blamed either, as it took two and a half hours before the actual fight between Ben Askren and Jake Paul started. And to their misery, the contest lasted a total of 78 seconds.