YouTuber Jake Paul, 24, demolishes Ben Askren, 36, with a first round knockout in showdown

YouTube star-turned-boxer Jake Paul destroyed Ben Askren in a highly-anticipated showdown on Saturday night knocking out the decorated MMA fighter in less than two minutes. 

Askren began the round at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta with some encouraging shots that landed in the opening moments of the fight but things quickly changed.  

Paul, 24, sent Askren crashing to the floor of the ring with just over a minute to go with a quick left jab followed by a straight right behind it.

It sent Askren crashing to the canvas and signaled the end of the fight.

Askren, who is 36, managed to get back to his feet and wanted to continue the fight.

Askren began arguing with the referee, clearly unhappy with the stoppage, but the MMA fighter was stumbling.

Jake fell to his knees in disbelief at his win. 

Paul, who gained fame as a social media influencer before turning pro, is now 3-0 after a similar knockout over NBA star Nate Robinson.

‘This is the craziest moment of my life,’ Paul said, jubilant. ‘I told y’all I was going to do it in the first round. I told y’all I’m a real fighter. I don’t know how many times I got to prove myself that this is for real.’  

Paul raised concerns ahead of the highly-anticipated showdown saying he has ‘early signs of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy)’.

Paul made the claim in a press conference Thursday, despite the fact he is only relatively new to boxing and had only competed in two professional fights.  

‘I’m putting my mental health on the line. My brain is on the line… I’ve gone and got brain scans and have early signs of CTE,’ Paul declared at the press conference. 

The star’s announcement caused a stir on social media, before he later revoked the claim in a Twitter post Friday. 

‘I wanna retract my comments made about CTE as it relates to me and my medical history. It’s a very serious condition that I should not have misspoken about,’ Paul wrote. 

CTE – the term used to describe brain degeneration that is likely caused by repeated head traumas – is only able to diagnosed during an autopsy, after a person has died. 

On Friday, at the same time as Paul revoked his CTE claim, it was announced that a doctor at the Georgia Athletic Commission had cleared Paul to fight.  

Paul started his boxing journey in front of 18,000 fans in a jam-packed Manchester Arena back in 2018, where he stopped fellow YouTuber Deji in the fifth round,. 

Paul then increased his stock as he stepped into the professional game for the first time, defeating AnEsonGib in a round, before his brutal knockout win over Nate Robinson last November. 

Paul has spoken of his aspirations to become the world’s biggest prize fighter, calling out the likes of Conor McGregor and Dillon Danis. 

Askren a legitimate fighter, won 19 of 21 UFC bouts. 

But, at 36-years-old, Askren comes into the fight on the back of a major hip operation. 

He retired back in 2019 after falling to back-to-back defeats, one of which being his memorable loss to Jorge Masvidal, whose five-second knockout remains the fastest-ever in UFC history.  

Paul came into Saturday’s bout as the favorite to prevail among the bookies, in spite of his relative inexperience.