Ben Askren News

Christopher Taylor - October 25, 2018

Undefeated welterweight Ben Askren has responded to callouts from a number of different UFC Fighters in wake of his potential trade, but it is undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov who has his attention. The former ONE and Bellator welterweight title holder, Askren, is apparently very close to being traded by ONE Championship to the UFC in exchange for former flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2018

At long last, it seems that former ONE and Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren could be headed to the UFC. While it’s not official just yet, he’s already rattling the cages of many of the UFC’s top welterweights.  One of the first UFC welterweights that Ben Askren set his sights on was Darren Till, who recently came up short in a title fight with Askren’s training partner Tyron Woodley.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2018

Ben Askren’s move to the UFC is not even official yet, and he’s already put half of the welterweight division on notice While the former ONE and Bellator welterweight champ has already stated that UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington could be the first UFC fighter on his hit list, he’s also recently set his sights on recent welterweight title challenger Darren Till, and long-time top-10 staple Jorge Masvidal.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2018

On Wednesday afternoon, ESPN reported that the UFC and Singapore’s ONE Championship are closing in on a history-making fighter trade. This potential trade would see ONE Championship send its former welterweight champion Ben Askren to the UFC, and the UFC send its former flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson to the Singapore-based promotion. It did not take long for the MMA community to begin imagining matchups for both fighters in their new potential homes. Ben Askren himself, however, feels like the UFC welterweight division has gone silent since the news of his possible arrival surfaced.

Cole Shelton - October 24, 2018

UFC fans have been wanting Ben Askren to join the UFC for quite some time now. Well, it appears they are finally getting their wish. It is being reported by Ariel Helwani of ESPN that the UFC and ONE Championship are close to a deal that would send Askren to the UFC and Demetrious Johnson to ONE Championship. This kind of MMA trade is unheard of, and once it becomes official, Askren will have plenty of options for who he can fight in the UFC.

Tom Taylor - October 24, 2018

ONE Championship and the UFC are close to finalizing a history-making fighter trade, per ESPN. This potential trade would see the UFC send former flyweight champion and pound-for-pound great Demetrious Johnson to the Singapore-based promotion in exchange for former ONE and Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren. While this trade is reportedly on the table, it is not official yet.

Drake Riggs - October 22, 2018

It appears that we may now be closer than we ever have been in getting to see “Funky” Ben Askren step inside the UFC Octagon. One of the most unfortunate cases in the history of MMA has been not getting to see the 18-0 former Bellator and ONE welterweight champion competing for the world’s leader in the sport. But that could all be changing sometime in the near future.

Tom Taylor - September 28, 2018

Nate Diaz wants the UFC to upgrade his upcoming UFC 230 lightweight contender fight with Dustin Poirier to a championship fight in new, currently hypothetical 165-pound division. Unfortunately for him, the UFC doesn’t seem into this idea. His response? “Don’t be scared.”

Drake Riggs - August 7, 2018

There have been multiple amazing fighters in MMA that have never fought for the UFC. Atop the list of them for many is Ben Askren. There was once a time where the undefeated former Bellator and ONE Championship welterweight king looked to have a solid shot at making his way to the grandest stage in MMA. However, after some back and forth with the boss Dana White himself, things never really came together and Askren took his talent over to Asia.

Jordy McElroy - July 18, 2018

Brendan Schaub drew a line in the sand with UFC President Dana White last Thursday in what might have been the most visceral social media clap-back of the year. A minor disagreement quickly escalated into all-out war between the UFC boss and former UFC heavyweight. It wasn’t the first time a former or current employee has raked White through the coals publically, and if history has taught us anything, it won’t be the last, either.

Tom Taylor - May 1, 2018

Last weekend, in the first bout of the Bellator 198 main card, Brazilian jiu-jitsu star Dillon Danis stepped into the cage for his first mixed martial arts bout. Though he took a few licks early in the fight, Danis ultimately came out on top in impressive fashion, tapping his foe with a toehold in the first frame. In his post-fight interview with cage-side commentator “Big” John McCarthy Danis shot for the stars with a callout of ostensibly retired former Bellator and ONE welterweight champion Ben Askren, who has recently been angling for big-ticket fights with Rory MacDonald and Georges St-Pierre.

Tom Taylor - April 30, 2018

Over the last few weeks, undefeated former Bellator and ONE welterweight titleholder Ben Askren has expressed interest in ending his retirement for a fight with Rory MacDonald in Bellator, or Georges St-Pierre in the UFC. Chatri Sityodtong, the Chairman and CEO of ONE Championship (where Askren is still technically under contract) seemed willing to work with Bellator to allow Askren to fight Rory MacDonald.

Drake Riggs - April 18, 2018

Despite what many may be led to believe, there is a flawlessly dominant wrestler outside of the UFC that may be a lot more well known than people assume. That wrestler turned undefeated multi-time MMA champion is none other than ‘Funky’ Ben Askren. Askren went 18-0 in his professional career before semi-retiring this past November. Funky Ben was most well known for being the dominant champion of both Bellator and ONE Championship.

Justin Golightly - March 13, 2018

While everyone but Georges St-Pierre contemplates his next opponent, Ben Askren has been campaigning for this fight mostly because people won’t stop asking him about it. The UFC on FOX account seems to mention him bi-weekly now and Askren is shrugging and RTing every time it happens. On the latest editions of The MMA Hour, he not only thinks the fight goes down in 2019, but runs play-by-play on exactly how he defeats the two-division UFC champion. “Here’s what I think happens, because the one thing I have over [Georges St-Pierre] is I have the wrestling advantage and I don’t get tired, and that’s usually what he’s relied on in the last, say, 10 to 12 fights or so. I think he’s very tough to take down early. I think he’s very tough. I think he’s probably going to win the striking battle, but one of the things, I never take a lot of damage. I just don’t get hit a lot. That’s what I’m good at.”

Justin Golightly - March 8, 2018

Georges St-Pierre finally had his first lengthy interview since a health battle forced him to bow out of the middleweight division and vacate the title he just won. The multi-million dollar question is who St-Pierre would fight if he comes back and which division he’d be in. It’s not a simple question. All of the fights that media members and fans would have thought could be possibilities, St-Pierre shot them down for one reason or another. The only man he seemed most interested in was Ben Askren, only to then claim his lack of exposure would be why he wouldn’t fight him. “[Georges St-Pierre]’s contradicting himself and when you say something like, ‘I only care about my legacy.’ GSP has made many, many millions and if he’s been smart and saved them, a few more millions ain’t going to help him that much. That’s what most athletes have to realize and I didn’t make nearly as much money as GSP, but I realize from my early days growing up and I’ve said this many times now, most athletes stay too long and most athletes spend too much money. For GSP, if he wants to say it’s all about his legacy, I’m the guy he has to fight if he wants to grow that legacy because I’m the person people are pointing at and saying, ‘That is the guy that can beat GSP.'”

Drake Riggs - March 5, 2018

“Ben Askren, I don’t understand why he’s not in the UFC. He’s one of the best in the world and I think it has to do with maybe a problem he has with Dana White, you know but he’s one of the best fighters in the world. If there is a guy that in my career, for my legacy that would have been good to fight, it’d be Ben Askren because he beat everybody. All the guys at Bellator, he beat all the champions outside the UFC but unfortunately, I think he has a fallout with Dana and he never had a chance to fight in the UFC and therefore is stuck. Never went to the value that he’s supposed to be at.

Justin Golightly - February 20, 2018

Frankie Edgar has finally got a fight after his anticipated scrap with UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway has fallen through twice. At UFC 222 in just under two weeks, he’ll test his infamous pressure, boxing and grinding wrestling on slick Brian Ortega. From one wrestler to another, Edgar recently spoke up about Ben Askren since the UFC on FOX Twitter account had curiously mentioned the former Bellator and ONE welterweight champion. He him a lot of respect and thinks he could have a shot against St-Pierre. “I would love to see [Ben] Askren in the UFC. I think it’s a shame that he hasn’t been here. I think people, or at least Dana [White] and whoever the UFC brass don’t want to see him go out there and wrestle guys to death and whatnot, but he’s out there wrestling and finishing guys now. The dude doesn’t get hit and it’s pretty impressive. Yeah, that’s like the, ‘Who would win out of [Georges St-Pierre] or him?’ That’s something people have been talking about for a long time and he’s got the ability to make that fight very interesting just because of his wrestling ability. Typically Georges is the guy with the wrestling ability, but against Ben I think Ben might have a hand in there.”—Frankie Edgar speaking on the MMA Roasted podcast.

Justin Golightly - February 17, 2018

The year of the superfight is truly upon us. Whether they all go down or not, three giant fights between champions in different divisions are expected to fight each other. Whether this is the UFC’s big explosion like the death of a star, or their metamorphosis to survive in the future, it’s clear that things are changing. So, if we’re going to crack open the door to allow for epic fights like these, why not just kick it off the hinges? Let’s take down the political boundaries between organizations and have champions be able to fight other champions to really decide who are the top fighters on our humble spinning rock. Unfortunately, that’s impossible until some sort of MMA Ali Act is passed. However, there is no red tape on our imagination, so this is what we’ll explore in the very first edition of Fight Think. 5.  Bellator World Grand Prix winner vs. Stipe Miocic/Daniel Cormier winner (Bellator heavyweight champion vs UFC heavyweight champion)