One major topic amongst MMA fans is Bellator releasing welterweight champion Ben Askren. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone, after Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney has made comments in the past about Askren being one-dimensional and his lack of exciting fights . He made it known that Bellator wasn’t going to push hard to resign Askren, due to him pretty much wiping out the entire welterweight division. It was a win-win move for both sides, even though it does look bad that you are releasing a champion of your company.
The value of Ben Askren and why the UFC should sign him
Askren is a free agent now and he has been talked about on a daily basis, since his release. Dana White has been asked about Askren several times in media scrums, while Fox Sports writer Michael Chiappetta asked Lorenzo Ferttita about Askren recently. It’s clear that the buzz is there for Askren, even though his fighting style is known to draw boos from the crowd.
The appeal of Askren is that nobody has beaten him and has been able to stop his takedowns, along with his ground control. Jay Hieron was the closest to doing so and has fought in the UFC before. Askren has beaten some “names” and will be entering a division full of talented fighters. You can say that the lightweight division has the most depth of talented fighters, but the welterweight division would be a close second. This is a division, where almost every fighter will test Askren like he’s never been tested before.
MMA Opinion’s Ian Bain (@TheIanBain) brought up an interesting comparison about Askren. He compared Askren to Josh Koscheck and how he could be the perfect replacement for him. After giving it a hard thought for a minute, the comparison was brilliant. Here are the two tweets that Ian put out.
The UFC have a ready-made Koscheck replacement in Ben Askren if they sign him. He will play the villain no problem.
And he doesn’t care. Hate him love him – he will make money. I think he has a lot of upside.
He couldn’t have been more spot on with that comparison. Askren has made it clear that he believes that he is the best welterweight in the world and that nobody can stop his wrestling. While he doesn’t have the knockout power that Koscheck has, he has the appeal of being loathed by fans and has started to embrace it.
When you look at the welterweight division, there are so many fighters that would be an intriguing matchup for Askren. You can see how he goes up against a wrestler with knockout power in Tyron Woodley or Jake Ellenberger. Another option could be see if he can hold down a dynamic striker for three rounds like Carlos Condit or Robbie Lawler. It’s clear that Askren’s fighting style isn’t appealing, but to see if he can avoid being knocked out or submitted will be the appeal.
The main reason why Askren hasn’t been signed could very well be Dana White’s ego. Dana is very intelligent and usually puts together the fights that people want to see. He is phenomenal at what he does, but his grudge with Rebney is well documented. White has distain for Rebney and doesn’t see any reason to sign any of his fighters. It’s a silly mindset to have, especially when Bellator has some great talent. If you want to bring up how UFC signed Hector Lombard from Bellator, that was before White openly began to criticize Rebney.
Can White’s ego be negated for a legitimate top ten welterweight to be signed to the UFC? It will happen, but we’ll have to be patient. I’m sure there are many people in his ear talking about how talented Askren is and how he’ll bring intriguing fights to a great division. Eventually, the people will overrule his mindset although thens again some fans aren’t exactly clamoring to see Askren in the UFC. It’ll be up to the media and people within the UFC that will be the reason why Askren will be signed.
You can criticize his style all you want, but all of his fights in the UFC will garner plenty of attention amongst hardcore MMA fans. If he were to fight someone like Condit, you’ll hear an emotional crowd throughout the fight. The crowd would pull for their guy in Condit, who constantly puts on exciting fights. He will go up against Askren, who is the arrogant newcomer that likes to take the fight to the ground and smother you. He has no shame in doing it, while never losing any confidence in his abilities.
The villain appeal is there and if he can work on his all-around game mainly his striking, we could see him challenge for a title someday. Askren is that good, although his one-dimensional style won’t last against the best fighters in the division. If he were to go up against Johny Hendricks, you’d have to believe that fight wouldn’t last long. For his own sake, Askren will need to become more of an all-around fighter.
As for his personality and his way of winning, he has all the makings of being the next Josh Koscheck and someone who can become a recognizable name while being disliked by the majority of the crowd. Eventually Dana White will bring him in and see what he’s made of. You rarely see him pass up on someone that is talked about so highly by the top journalists in MMA. Sorry World Series of Fighting, you won’t be getting your dream fight between Askren and Jon Fitch.
You can follow me on twitter at @Allen_Strk and be sure to follow @MMASucka for all updates & news.
