On social media on Sunday, Jake Paul stated that his fight against Ben Askren has already brought in 1.5 million pay-per-view buys on Triller PPV, generating $65 million from the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
It’s believed that the fight card could top 2 million buys, thanks largely to the popularity of Jake. Askren likely brought in a lot of fans as well from the UFC.
Jake says this is just the beginning. He believes he can bring in 3 million or even 4 million pay-per-view buys. With the 1.5 million buys Jake hauled in for Askren, you have to believe he can hit the 4 million buy mark given the right opponent.
You can that the success of the Paul vs. Askren card was boosted by the many entertainment artists on the card.
With popular entertainers like Justin Bieber, Ice Cube, and Snoop Dog, their many followers knew the card. A lot of the buys likely came from their fans.
Jake fought well in his third professional fight, knocking out Askren with a right hand in the first round.
In fairness to Askren, it was a premature knockout, as he beat the count and seemed to be cogent when he worked forward to be looked over by the referee.
Jake would have stopped Askren immediately if the action had been allowed to continue because he was punching with massive power. In Jake’s two previous fights, he stopped ex-NBA player Nate Robinson and YouTuber AnSonGib.
Jake isn’t satisfied with just having this successful pay-per-view even. He wanted to keep going, and he’s already targeting other MMA fighters. He challenged Daniel Cormier on social media on Sunday after he questioned whether Askren purposefully took a dive.
Jake, 24, is interested in taking on former UFC star Conor McGregor next, but he has doubts whether the 33-year-old fighter will sign the contract.
McGregor hasn’t fought in a boxing event since his knockout loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2017, and that fight didn’t end well for him.
“We’ll see,” Jake said to MMA Junkie about him potentially fighting McGregor in a boxing event. “There are a lot of people. But honestly, when it comes down to signing the contract, these guys duck.
“The McGregor fight just became more realistic, like I’ve been saying. I just want to do big fights.”
“We’ll see who the next big challenge is,” said Jake.”I don’t want to take some bull s***. I want to challenge myself. I want to do 3 million, 4 million pay-per-view buys. Who’s going to bring in those numbers?”
It’s quite possible that Jake can get McGregor to agree to fight him once he hears about his pay-per-view numbers for the Askren fight.
McGregor had been hoping to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr or Manny Pacquiao, but those fights haven’t materialized for him.
If they’re not going to fight McGregor, it’s predictable that he’ll be lured in to face Jake Paul.