Jake Paul Set to Box Ben Askren, the Worst Striker in the Modern Era of the UFC on April 17th

 

Jake Paul Set to Box Former UFC Fighter Ben Askren 

Prominent social media influencer, Jake Paul is now set to take on Ben Askren in a boxing match. Paul opens as a -180 favorite in this bout, which would be disrespectful if it were against any other high-level mixed martial artist. For Askren, it makes sense. Ben Askren is arguably the worst striker of the modern era of the UFC. In an era where mixed martial arts fighters have become very well rounded, Ben Askren is a relic of MMA's past stylistically. Askren is a pure wrestler and was very good at it but has virtually no striking skills or even raw punching power to speak of. Normally you'd be wondering why he is crossing over to boxing. The matchup makes as much sense as the rest of this bout because Jake Pual isn't even a real boxer and has never fought one for that matter. An actual professional boxer or even an MMA fighter with UFC average striking skills would likely be too much for the young influencer at this point in his budding freakshow fight career.

Ben Askren at a Glance

I made a pretty bold claim in the title of this article; that claim was that Ben Askren is the worst striker of the UFC's modern era. I don't make this claim to be insulting, it just speaks to the increasing level of striking ability in MMA and Askren is definitely at or near the bottom. When forced to strike in MMA fights Askren would plod forward taking extensive damage while looking for the clinch. In almost every fight Askren had his hands were only used to enter the clinch. Askren's best chance in this fight is grabbing Jake and tying up with him off of his jab and trying to land uppercuts in whatever clinch is allowed to take place by the ref.

Jake Paul at a Glance 

Jake Paul is a prominent influencer who has 14.5 million followers on Instragram and 3.8 million on twitter. Jake gained his following from a career as a YouTuber and has since followed his brother Logan into this strange new world of influencer boxing matches. Logan is now in negotiations with Floyd Mayweather's team regarding a potential fight and Jake is set to fight Ben Askren. The two have branched off into more dangerous territory with actual fighters, but I think Jake has a good chance to come out victorious here. Jake is young, rich, and has nothing to think about except for boxing. If he's smart its all he does because he has the resources to do so. Ben Askren is a thirty six year old MMA fighter coming off a hip surgery with many other things going on. Paul has a decent grasp of boxing fundamentals and I believe youth and health will be on his side in this one and give him a chance to win. 

Takeaway

Jake Paul and Ben Askren are...... going to box. Yeah that's about all that needs to be said, but just for the sake of doing I'll give a little overview of my thoughts on it. This bout is part of a continuing trend of popular influencers using their notoriety to sell pay per views. This fight is also significant as it is the first of the influencer bouts to include an actual fighter as far as I am aware. Honestly I think this fight is a pretty boring one. Askren is old, injured, slow, and not known for his striking to say the least. Jake Paul is a social media influencer who picked up boxing late in life to hop on a trend and has since fought two people who aren't boxers. Personally I would rather watch two meth heads throw hands outside of my apartment, but the fight is going to be very pivotal in deciding the future of influencer fights.

Image credits to Wikipedia

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