Askren signs 2-yr contract with One FC
Ben Askren may be the answer to a trivia question in the near future. As the current Bellator welterweight champion…
Ben Askren may be the answer to a trivia question in the near future. As the current Bellator welterweight champion he was released unconditionally from his contract, and the UFC did not make him an offer. Forced to work outside the major two US promotions, Askren has announced a deal with the Asian promotion OneFC:
Ben Askren has a new mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion to call home, as the former Bellator welterweight champion has signed a two-year, six-fight contract with ONE FC.
Askren was a guest on today’s MMA Hour and went into detail on his negotiations with the UFC;
“The meeting (with UFC) went really well, they were all polite and everything was good and we talked. Honestly, when I left the UFC offices I thought we were going to come to a deal at that point. It just seemed like it was going to happen then later that night they called back and said they weren’t interested. It was a weird set of circumstances. After going to the meeting, it was very clear to me that it’s not about me; it’s Dana’s quarrel with Bellator and Bjorn and everything else that’s going on there. When you look at his main argument that I’m not good enough, it’s shenanigans. I don’t think there’s a site in the world that does not have me in the top 10. They got 84 guys on the roster and frankly, I’d beat half of those dudes with one arm tied behind my back and blindfolded. Some of those guys, they really suck, they are really bad at the sport of MMA. So, when it came down to it, I think it’s all about the Bellator bickering.”
