Ben Askren opens up on his knockout loss to Jake Paul

Former MMA fighter-turned-boxer Ben Askren opened up with the media following his first-round knockout loss to Jake Paul on Saturday night.

After talking a big game in the lead-up to the fight, Askren suffered a first-round knockout loss on Saturday night after Paul landed a massive right hand that floored “Funky.” The referee would not let Askren continue in the fight and stopped it, giving Paul the first-round victory. Following the event, Askren spoke to the media and opened up on the loss. When asked if he felt like he let the MMA community down, Askren took it a step further, suggesting that he actually let the entire world down by not finding a way to beat Paul.

.@BenAskren feels he 'let the world down' after #TrillerFightClub loss:

"People f*ckin hate Jake Paul and they wanted to see me make him miserable."

Watch full video: https://t.co/Bpe1ZfWbJP pic.twitter.com/DpSElwVIkZ

— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) April 18, 2021

“I didn’t let the MMA community down, I let the world down. People f*cking hate Jake Paul and they wanted to see me make him miserable and I didn’t do that. So I didn’t let the MMA community down. I let the world down,” Askren said to the media.

When asked who should get the next fight against Paul, Askren pointed to his longtime friend and training partner Tyron Woodley as the man who should be next to fight Paul. Woodley recently just suffered his fourth straight loss in the UFC when he was finished by Vicente Luque, and UFC president Dana White admitted he might be released from the promotion. If that’s the case, then Askren hopes he goes in there and fights Paul next.

“I would love Tyron to whoop him up. Tyron wants to fight Oscar de la Hoya, but I would love for Tyron to fight Jake Paul. He’s a significantly better boxer than I am. Yeah, that would be my guy,” Askren said.

What do you think is next for Ben Askren following his knockout loss to Jake Paul?