Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren prediction: How each man can win

Hate it or love it, one of the year’s most talked-about combat sports events is going down this weekend and no matter how much you want to ignore it, there’s a good chance that you’ll at least take 30 seconds on Sunday to find out who emerged victorious when an inexperienced 24-year-old YouTube star put on the gloves to box a retired 36-year-old wrestling and MMA champion. That’s right, it’s time for us to have a serious discussion about this fight.

The good news for you readers—whether you be hardcore or casual or someone who wandered here by accident after some cursed algorithm send you down a Paul wormhole—is that you don’t have to wait until tonight to find out the winner because MMA Fighting’s Alexander K. Lee and Jed Meshew are here to break down what will happen.

Will Askren send a pretending Paul packing, or will Paul back up his bluster and hand Askren an asskicking that many predicted when this matchup was first announced?

Lee: I confess, I went along with the most obvious narrative when it was first announced that Askren—a non-striker during his illustrious 10-year MMA career who is coming off of major hip surgery—had agreed to box Paul. It appeared that Paul had enough career savvy pick the perfect opponent for his third-ever pro fight in Askren, an older and smaller opponent with a reputable name from his accomplishments in the NCAA, Bellator, ONE Championship and, yes, even the UFC (there is that officially recognized win over Robbie Lawler on his record, after all).

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