Ben Askren says Jake Paul’s statement about purse forfeiture is “false.”
With all the combat sports events going on as the weekend comes closer, Wednesday Triller Fight Club hosted media workouts for their event this weekend. Paul and Askren will face each other under boxing rules in the main event, and hopefully, the rules are not broken.
One of the things that came up when Paul was speaking with MMA Junkie was the possibility of Askren doing something outside of boxing rules, like takedowns or submissions. Paul responded by providing a reason he wasn’t concerned about this possibility.
“If he does do something like that, his purse is eliminated in the bout agreement. So, if he wants to lose all of all the money for the fight then sure, go ahead.”
Ben Askren caught wind of his comments and issued a brief response.
“This is false,” Askren wrote.
MMA Fighting also spoke with someone with knowledge of the contracts who said Paul’s claim was simply “not true.”
Executive Director of the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission Matt Woodruff also told MMA Fighting that a conversation would be had with Askren regarding the rules “to note that it’s boxing and there will be no takedowns.
“In terms of sanctions or anything Jake [Paul] has said, nothing has been relayed to us.”
Generally, in combat sports, a rules meeting is held with all parties involved in the matches before fight night. It includes the competitors and their corners to ensure that nothing outside of the agreed-upon rule set occurs.
Both Askren and Paul have taken shots at each other since the boxing match was set up, so this could just be more of that. Askren, a former Bellator, and ONE Championship titleholder is making his boxing debut against Paul, who is 2-0 in pro-boxing. The Triller Fight Club pay-per-view airs this Saturday night on FITE TV at 9 P.M. EST.
