‘Insane’: YouTuber Jake Paul KOs MMA veteran Ben Askren in first round

YouTube sensation Jake Paul has proven his doubters wrong, convincingly trumping MMA veteran Ben Askren in the opening round.

Jake Paul and Ben Askren face off.

YouTube sensation Jake Paul has embarrassed MMA veteran Ben Askren, knocking out his opponent in the first round of Sunday afternoon’s fight at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Following a pair of comfortable victories to start his boxing career, Paul was set to come up against a considerably more worthy opponent this weekend — Askren is a former Bellator and ONE champion.

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Before the fight got underway, Paul predicted a first-round knockout — and that’s exactly what happened.

Following a cluster of well-directed jabs, Paul downed his opponent with a powerful right hook inside two minutes.

Askren attempted to get to his feet, but the referee waved off the fight as the wobbly boxer failed to compose himself.

The 36-year-old argued with the referee, seemingly unhappy with the stoppage — but replays showed he was completely rattled from the blow.

Jake Paul Knocks out Ben Askren round 1 pic.twitter.com/cKIY9mLc2y

— KEEM 🍿 (@KEEMSTAR) April 18, 2021

wow. big congrats @jakepaul that was insane

— Wolfie (@wolfieraps) April 18, 2021

“I’ve been in the training camp every day. I deserve that s**t,” Paul said after the win.

“This is the craziest moment of my life.

“I told y’all I was going to do it in the first round. I told y’all I’m a real fighter. I don’t know how many times I got to prove myself that this is for real.

“This is for Shadow my security guard, who passed away 10 days ago. He told I would knock him out in the first-round. He said he had a vision, a dream. This has been the hardest 10 days of my life. I had to hold it together to keep this fight going and I’m just honoured to be here.

“A couple of years ago my teachers were making fun of me in class, telling me I can’t do nothing, telling me I wasn’t smart. My school mates making fun of me. I used to landscape; I just had a dream and chased it and worked hard.”

Paul recently defeated fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib and NBA slam dunk champion Nate Robinson in the ring.

The 24-year-old now boasts an unbeaten 3-0 (3 KOs) career record.

Outrage at X-rated content

There was outrage earlier on Sunday when X-rated content appeared regularly in the Triller broadcast, which also featured performances by Snoop Dogg, The Black Keys and Justin Bieber.

The card included footage of scantily clad women, apparent drug use and adult conversations between the many stars seen on the telecast.

However, the biggest complaints centred around how the action in the ring was treated as a sideshow to the live music acts.

There was also a moment of high drama as Paul was asked a question by comedian Pete Davidson that was dumped and censored from the broadcast.

The live coverage showed Davidson asking Paul a question inside the fighter’s private dressing room before a member of Paul’s team jumped in to stop the line of questioning.

When the broadcast resumed, Paul was seen saying: “Bro, you can’t joke about that”.

There was speculation on Sunday that the question Davidson asked to Paul centred around the allegations from TikTok sensation Justine Paradise that he sexually assaulted her.

#PeteDavidson asked #JakePaul about the sexual assault allegation in his locker room immediately before he took the ring in his fight against #BenAskren. 😱 pic.twitter.com/9tkmIjhglh

— Perez (@ThePerezHilton) April 18, 2021

Paradise, 24, detailed the alleged assault in a 20-minute video on YouTube, claiming it happened at Paul’s Team 10 California residence.

Paul, also 24, denied the claims in a statement last week and said he is pursuing legal action.

Davidson was recruited as a special co-host of the event, but repeatedly made fun of the spectacle and routinely made fun of both fighters.

Paul boasts more than 20 million subscribers and 6.8 billion views on the video streaming platform.

Full card

Jake Paul defeated Ben Askren — via first round TKO — cruiserweight

Regis Prograis defeated Ivan Redkach — via technical decision (60-54, 60-54, 59-54) — junior welterweight

Steve Cunningham defeated Frank Mir — via unanimous decision (60-54, 60-54, 58-56) — heavyweight

Joe Fournier defeated Andres Felipe Robledo Londono — via second round TKO — light heavyweight