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Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley will be present in Ben Askren's corner for the fight against Jake Paul on Saturday night.
Ahead of Ben Askren's much-hyped April 17 boxing match against Jake Paul, Tyron Woodley commented on why the YouTuber-turned-boxer made a mistake by picking 'Funky' as his opponent.
Speaking to MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn, Woodley pointed out that even though Jake Paul went with Ben Askren because the latter is not widely known for his striking prowess, the decision would backfire for 'The Problem Child' as he has none of the experience of fighting world champions at different levels of the sport, as Ben Askren does.
"He [Jake Paul] thought he picked Ben because Ben wasn't really known for his striking prowess in MMA as more for his grinding, his cardio, his ability to submission, his ground and pound, his wrestling, his aggressiveness."
"He wasn't really known for the boxing aspect of the sport. So, he [Jake Paul] probably thought it was an easy pick to go get that fight. But Ben's Ben, swung at by all the world champion boxers and kickboxers."
"He has sparred with those guys, he has been at the highest level. He has been with the guys that are Olympians, he has been with the NCAA champions, he has been with the top of the top, fighting against the world champions and been a world champion."
"So, you can't compare that experience. You can't compare the ability to be calm in a storm at a big, big, big event."
Woodley and Askren had been longtime friends from even before they became renowned athletes. The two bonded when they were wrestlers together while studying at the University of Missouri back in 2004-05, and they took their friendship into the world of professional combat sports in later years.
Tyron Woodley predicts a knockout win for Ben Askren
Having known Ben Askren for years now, Tyron Woodley has a fair idea of Ben Askren's fighting style. He is confident that 'Funky' will be able to 'drain and drown' Jake Paul because of the upperhand he has for being the more experienced of the two.
"Jake - this is his second or third time doing this. And it is not - I don't thing it's the same. So, it should be a good fight, I think it's a competitive fight."
"But I do think what Ben does best is drain the guy and drown the guy and I think somebody who hasn't been up against the top is an easy pick to get drowned."
Ben Askren vs. Jake Paul fight will be an eight-round boxing match under the Triller Fight Club banner. The event can be live streamed as a pay-per-view on Triller from 9 PM ET/ 6 PM PT in the United States, 2 AM GMT (April 18) in the UK, and 6:30 AM IST (April 18) in India.
