When Ben Askren was granted his release from Bellator it seemed like Bjorn Rebney’s insistence that the UFC sign Ben Askren was the main reason that Dana White kind of balked and slid him a World Series of Fighting contract. Dana White doesn’t want to do anything that Bjorn Rebney wants him to do, which, in a way, makes a lot of sense. Ben Askren instead opted to sign with One FC in Singapore as well as move part of his training camp to Singapore’s Evolve MMA team, which continues to insist that there is no connection between the two organizations.
By the sounds of it, One FC simply offered him more money than anyone else did, which is very much a “good for him” situation. Here’s the story from Loretta Hunt. [source]
Askren’s deal with One FC is for six fights over two years, he said. He’ll make $50,000 guaranteed for his first bout, with another $50,000 in bonus pay should he win. Askren’s purses increase for each subsequent bout, should he keep winning.
The deal doesn’t require Askren to move (permanently or otherwise) to One FC’s home-based region. Part of that confusion stems from a separate deal Askren signed around the same time with Evolve MMA, a state-of-the-art Singapore-based gym that’s hosted name fighters from all over the world.
“That’s a separate deal,” said Askren, who’ll remain a member of the Wisconsin-based Roufusport team. “Evolve MMA is sponsoring me and I’ll go there and train two weeks before my fights. Their coaches will corner me.”