UFC veteran Daniel Cormier claims Ben Askren ‘played us all’ in Jake Paul defeat after he was filmed SMILING upon leaving the ring after first round loss to the YouTuber… with fans saying the MMA man is ‘laughing to the bank’
- Former UFC man Ben Askren was knocked out by Jake Paul inside just one round
- Askren was widely tipped to beat the YouTuber but was dropped after a minute
- The 36-year-old’s reaction after the bell has sparked conspiracy theories
- Askren earned a guaranteed $500,000 and was seen laughing with his wife
The reaction of Ben Askren following his humiliating first-round knockout by YouTuber Jake Paul has sparked conspiracy theories regarding his payout.
Former UFC man Askren was widely expected to pull off a routine win over Paul, who only turned professional following the surge in popularity of YouTube boxing.
Paul had only previously fought fellow YouTuber AnEson Gib and former NBA man Nate Robinson, yet in his first fight against a combat star the 24-year-old sent Askren down to the canvas within the first minute with a right hook.
Ben Askren was seen laughing with his wife after immediately leaving the boxing ring
Ex-UFC man Askren was widely expected to win the fight but was knocked out in one round
Askren stumbled back to his feet and was seen being checked over by the referee, before it was determined he could no longer continue.
Paul roared with emotion in the immediate aftermath, though it was the reaction of Askren which caught the attention of viewers. The veteran was seen smiling and laughing with his wife after immediately leaving the ring.
Askren’s demeanour soon got people talking, with fans and fellow pros all weighing in with their takes on the showdown.
UFC veteran star Daniel Cormier wasted no time in taking to Twitter to voice his concerns that something was amiss.
He wrote: ‘Wait a minute, did Askren get us all? Like this is some magician stuff he wasn’t laughing on his way to the back was he? Cmon Ben lol.’
Cormier’s view was shared by many, with hundreds of tweets streaming across social media branding the fight a ‘fix.’
Another user chimed: ‘Askren laughing to the bank with that performance.’
The 36-year-old Askren came out of retirement for the fight having hung up his gloves in 2017, and has received a personal record pay-out for his services.
Askren has been guaranteed £360,000 ($500,000) for featuring in the fight with Paul, along with a further share of pay-per-view sales on top.
After remaining quiet following the defeat, Askren broke his silence by simply writing ‘sorry world’ on his official Twitter page, accompanied by a sad face.
The former UFC man then quickly followed this up with a comical retweet from Amanda Cerny, who had responded to his message with ‘Good news is that you got that pay out $$$ just in time for the crypto dips!’.