Askren: It’s false that I don’t want to fight in UFC
Ben Askren: “So maybe he assumes that because someone wants to be paid fairly, they don’t want to fight in the UFC. But other than that, I couldn’t think of anything.”
Last month UFC president Dana White said ONE FC welterweight champion Ben Askren did not want to fight in the UFC.
The guy is making a ton of money to fight nobodies,” said White. “But when you talk and you say a lot of things it keeps your name out there. Trust me when I tell you this, Ben Askren does not want to fight in the UFC.
Ben Askren appeared recently on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, and took pointed issue with the remarks.
“It’s just blatant lies,” said Askren, as transcribed by Shaun Al-Shatti for MMA Fighting. “Everything he told you is just a blatant lie about me.”
“First he said I wasn’t skilled enough, and that was laughable to anyone who knew anything about MMA. Then when they signed a 0-0 fighter, it became more about, ‘wow, really’?
“There was a bunch of other stuff that he said, but at the end of the day, the only real mutual acquaintance we have would be Anthony Pettis, the champ, and I’ve never said anything of that manner to Anthony. I mean, the only thing that he could possibly equate with that is I said, if I do go to the UFC, I want to be paid fairly. So maybe he assumes that because someone wants to be paid fairly, they don’t want to fight in the UFC. But other than that, I couldn’t think of anything I would’ve said that would’ve been inclined towards making someone think that.”
Hopefully White hears this, and asks Askren what he wants, and pays it.