UFC light-heavyweight Anthony Smith ripped into Jake Paul after the YouTube star claimed that he has early signs of CTE.
The YouTube star is set to take on former UFC fighter Ben Askren in his third professional boxing bout tomorrow at Mercedes-Bank Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. ‘The Problem Child’ has taken up boxing seriously and is already 2-0 up in his pro boxing career.
At the final press conference, Paul spoke about the love and dedication he has for boxing, before going on to say that he had early signs of CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) due to taking hits to the head.
Speaking of which the former Disney star said:
“You know, it’s a dangerous sport. And that’s why, when people question my dedication to it—it’s like, I’m showing up every single day. I’m putting my mental health on the line, my brain is on the line. Like you said, I’ve gone and gotten brain scans and have early signs of CTE. But, I love this sport and wouldn’t trade it for anything else.” [via BloodyElbow]
Popular MMA website BloodyElbow had posted this on Twitter, to which another renowned page MiddleEasy replied saying that no brain scans can ever detect early CTE signs and that Jake Paul was making it up just to sound cool.
In stepped, Anthony ‘Lionheart’ Smith who came up with his opinion on Paul’s claims. He blasted the YouTube sensation calling him disgusting.
Smith tweeted :
“My take:
“1. He’s exactly as stupid and careless as we all thought.
“2. Lying about this to be cool or whatever shows his absolute disrespect for the real fighters and their families that have and will suffer from the very real, devastating effects of CTE. He’s disgusting.”
As for Anthony Smith, he is expected to face Jimmy Crute in a week’s time at UFC 261, and will be giving his all to break into the top 5 of the light-heavyweight rankings.
Jake Paul believes Ben Askren wouldn’t be able to get near him
Paul has been furiously putting in the hard yards ahead of his fight against Askren. He recently even claimed that Askren would have never had training sessions as intense as the ones he has had.
And, in a recent interview with Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie, he said Funky Ben would struggle even to get near him because he has worked on his distance control on an unimaginable level.
Here is what Paul said to Mike Bohn about his distance control:
“I don’t think Ben will be able to get near me. My distance control is 10 times better than his. And if he does, he’s going to get busted up on the inside. That’s one thing we really worked on in this camp is my inside fighting game. He can come in, but he’s going to get cracked. If he wants to hold me, he’s just going to be losing by points.”
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