Former Bellator and ONE champion Ben Askren is still not sure why so much of the public was interested in last Saturday's boxing match with Youtube star Jake Paul.

"Why was the public so interested in two guys who weren't very good at boxing, boxing?" Askren said to ESPN. "It's kind of mind blowing."

Askren, who appeared to be out of shape and had no boxing experience, was stopped in the first round.

There wasn't much of a surprise, as Paul had a lot more experience in boxing, was much bigger, younger and stronger.

But, Askren received a big paycheck - with some insiders indicating that the retired MMA fighter raked in $1 million.

As far as the big loss, Askren doesn't seem to care that much about the outcome.

He's more surprised that such a large audience became fascinated with the fight.

"What does [the fight] mean to me? It doesn't mean anything. A fight that doesn't mean anything to me, the way it captured the public's attention and everyone had an opinion on it -- was so fascinating," Askren said.

"This is a fight that had little significance in my life and the [Jorge] Masvidal fight had gigantic significance."

In the fight with Paul, Askren was hit with big right hand - and he went down hard.

Askren was able to get to his feet, but he got up too quickly and was stumbling on shaky legs - which forced a swift stoppage by the referee. 

There were many angry fans who took to social media - claiming the contest was fixed and/or Askren took a dive.

"[A dive] definitely didn't happen," Askren said. "I got hit. The question I have for those people is, what do I gain by it? I told you guys what I made for this fight. It was a very nice pay check. I'm also not destitute and poor. What do I gain by that? The answer is nothing. I would actually lose a lot. It's not something that would ever cross my mind.

"Maybe he's good. I don't think so. I think I just didn't defend the overhand right really well and maybe he does land that punch hard. But it's still TBD, because he's gonna fight probably somebody who's significant better at boxing than I am. If he beats them, we'll see."