I believe in Ben Askren. I believe in his intelligence, and his ability to win. I think he makes a major dent in multiple UFC guys, and I think the main reason Dana White doesn’t want Askren is because he doesn’t want the Bellator champ going deep into the UFC welterweight division. I don’t blame him.
So send him to WSOF, a promotion that has a damn good welterweight division, and a promotion Dana White likes. Askren can lost to Jon Fitch or someone over there, THEN he’ll come to the UFC in a year or two.
MMAJunkie got the interview:
The meeting went well, he’s a nice kid. I’ve got nothing personal against him. He’s a nice guy. You know, we just won’t be signing him.
I wasn’t even going to say this, because it sounds like I’m just s—-ing on them, but there’s just no competition for him over at Bellator. There’s competition for him at World Series of Fighting. This kid will probably sign with them. I don’t know they’ve got to come to an agreement and a deal. But if he does, there’s actual competition for him there.
I think it’s crazy that he’s ranked in the top 10. He hasn’t fought anybody and has no challenges. The best thing that could’ve ever happened to that kid was leaving Bellator. Now he has the opportunity to go to World Series of Fighting and show what he’s got.