Askren: I’m not in the UFC because of one ‘bald-headed fat man’
Ben Askren and the UFC had a very public sparring in the media about Askren’s desire to compete in the…
Ben Askren and the UFC had a very public sparring in the media about Askren’s desire to compete in the UFC and the UFC’s unwillingness to sign the undefeated former Bellator champion. Askren believes it was just Dana White who stopped his move to the UFC:
They essentially told my manager, ‘We’re going to get something done,’ and six hours later, when I’m not in the meeting and not in the UFC office, I get a call saying, ‘It’s not going to happen,’ he said.
It is their business, and they can run their business however they want to run their business. But it would have been nice to hear from their mouth what the real issue was. I have a pretty good idea of what it is, but they still didn’t spit it out.
UFC President Dana White, whom Askren said was on vacation at the time of his meeting and attended via conference call, told reporters he wasn’t interested in signing the former Bellator champ when he became a free agent.
In subsequent interviews, the two traded shots about each other’s character.
In all honesty, I think if you put a 15-man tournament together, I think I could be the best fighter in the world right now, Askren said. And now, I’m not going to get a chance to prove that because one bald-headed fat man chooses not to let me in.
