Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley will be cornering Ben Askren for his upcoming fight.
Askren returns to action when he collides with YouTuber Jake Paul in an eight-round boxing match set to take place April 17. No location has been disclosed for the fight as of now.
And the former Bellator and ONE champion will be receiving the help of one of the biggest knockout artists in combat sports in Woodley for the contest.
“I’m gonna help him out, I’m gonna corner him for the fight,” Woodley told The Schmo. “I’ll try to see how I can merge it in with my training camp but Ben just told me come after my fight, that’s only a week. If you can come earlier, come earlier. That’s how Ben is. Yeah, I’ll be there.”
Woodley Expects Askren To Wear Paul Out
As for the fight, many observers are expecting Paul to come out on top despite Askren’s combat sports accolades.
That’s mainly because Askren has never been a striker nor does he really have knockout power for that matter either.
However, Woodley believes “Funky” has a different kind of power and will ultimately wear Paul out before getting the victory.
“Ben has very dumpy power — that’s the best way I can explain it,” Woodley said. “When he punches, it’s not like the super-fast Mayweather type stuff, but when he hits you, it’s like, ‘damn, that kinda f*cking hurt a little bit.’ So in my mind, I think that he clings to guys well — we haven’t really seen him take a lot of punches. Robbie [Lawler] hit him a couple times. Obviously, he got flying kneed but we haven’t seen him sit there and just take f*cking shots from people throwing hands at him.
“So I think he’s going to be able to get close to Jake, kinda talk a little sh*t to him because Ben’s been doing that since college, and then really just wear him down and wear him out. Then I think those later rounds, Ben’s been on this stage, the Bellator stage, the ONE FC stage, the UFC stage, the Olympic stage, the NCAA stage, the crowd and the lights, and everything that goes with the pazazz behind a show. He’s not going to be moved by Jake.
“This is new to him [Paul]. YouTube is one thing but when you’re in front of people and people are watching you. He showed up against those guys he fought but I think Ben’s a world-class athlete whether he looks like he can jump 40 feet off the ground or not, he’s world class in three different sports.”
Wearing Paul out seems to be the general game plan as that’s what Askren predicted as well en route to a seventh-round TKO victory.
There’s just over two months to go to see if Askren will be able to do just that.
