The saga of Ben Askren the free agent has apparently come to a close as Ben Askren has officially joined the ranks at OneFC. This means that hopes of seeing him in the UFC any time soon have disappeared and that he has probably upset Dana White by not taking the World Series of Fighting contract that was offered to him and pushed by the UFC as a “good move” for him. Ben Askren’s independence comes with a two year contract with OneFC, which will include six fights throughout that span of time.
When prompted as to why he chose OneFC over WSOF, the answer is kind of shocking, actually;
According to Askren, though, it was Dana’s suggestion that ultimately pushed him to join ONE. “I thought we were going to come to a deal [with the UFC],” he said. “It’s clear that it isn’t about me, it’s about Dana’s quarrel with Bellator.” When a WSOF contract slid over his desk after being officially shot down by the UFC, though, he refused to let them call the shots for him, “I’ve got a really hard time with people telling me what to do, and if I’m you’re employee, I’m going to listen to you…but now I’m not your employee and you’re telling me what to do? That’s crazy.”
[source]