Ben Askren wants to fight in the UFC
Ben Askren “It would be nice to add that to my name, the undisputed greatest welterweight in the world, but if I don’t get to prove it it’s not going to break my heart.”
The signing of Phil “CM Punk” Brooks, who has no experience in combat sports beyond a white belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, made a large number of fans question why Olympian Ben Askren remains unsigned.
However, Askren has repeatedly expressed that he is happy where is currently at ONE FC. Last summer at the UFC 177 media scrum Dana made an opening.
I think if he keeps winning, he could get a shot over here, said White as transcribed by John Morgan for MMAJunkie. Listen, Ben Askren said a lot of stupid s— when he left, but I don’t care about stuff like that. I could care less about any of that. We’ll see how the kid fights, what he keeps doing, and we’ll go from there.”
Askren’s response via Twitter did not indicate an overwhelming desire to fight in the UFC.
BenAskrenhttp://twitter.com/Benaskren@Benaskren
Oh thank you master @danawhitecan I please have a shot
Some fans have said that if Askren is happy where he is, all the talk about whether the should UFC sign him is moot.
However, in a recent interview with Ben Fowlkes for MMAJunkie, Askren acknowledged that he wants to fight in the UFC.
Obviously, I’d love the chance to fight for the number one spot in the world, but there’s a lot of other things that come along with doing that, said Askren. For me, yeah, I would like the chance to fight for the spot, but it’s not a must-have. I feel like I’ve proved enough about myself in the sports world. I have no doubt that I’m the best welterweight in the world. I just haven’t gotten the chance to prove that. It would be nice to add that to my name, the undisputed greatest welterweight in the world, but if I don’t get to prove it it’s not going to break my heart.
So how about it Dana? You made half the fans happy by signing Brooks, now delight the other half of us by signing Askren. Then everybody wins.