Ben Askren Might Just be the Breath of Fresh Air the UFC Needs… He’s Called Out Basically Every Welterweight in the Division… As Well as a Few Fighters Above and Below…
Most people never thought it would happen, but Ben Askren is finally set to fight for the UFC. The former ONE and Bellator champion is a legendary wrestler and widely believed to be one of the two best fighters (alongside Fedor Emelianenko) never to have fought for the world’s most famous MMA promotion.
Now that the UFC and ONE are basically trading Demetrious Johnson and Askren, it finally looks to be set right. Askren has wasted no time in making his presence felt. The 34-year-old has pretty much called out every viable fighter in the division on Twitter.
The likes of Darren Till, Jorge Masvidal, The Diaz Brothers, Georges St. Pierre and even lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagamedov have all been targeted by the man they call ‘Funky.’It looks like he’s set to make up for lost time very quickly. This is what the welterweight division needs.
Your twitter trash talk is embarrassingly bad, it’s worse than your performance against @TWooodley ! Now when you get asked to sign the contract for real make sure you do it son. https://t.co/xYPQxRhB3b
— “Young Male Model” (@Benaskren) October 25, 2018
Back and Forth
Askren has had a back and forth with former welterweight contender Darren Till, who looks set to jump up a division. However, ‘Funky’ rattled the Liverpudlian by asking him if he was ready to go on a losing streak. Till responded but he’s no match for Askren’s Twitter prowess.
Then he called out Nick Diaz… as you can see below.
Hey @nickdiaz209 word is you blew all your money and need to fight again. I realize you haven’t won a bout since 2011, but people still seem to think you are good. I’m willing to show them otherwise!
— “Young Male Model” (@Benaskren) October 26, 2018
And Nate…
And @NateDiaz209 you can’t keep waiting on your sugar daddy @TheNotoriousMMA to make you some more money. If big bro lets you out of the house and your feeling funky holler at me
— “Young Male Model” (@Benaskren) October 26, 2018
165lb Division?
Askren is also very interested in being the face of the fabled 165lb division. He called out lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagamedov, saying that they should find out who is the best grappler on the planet (expect him to call out Daniel Cormier next). Could you imagine this fight?
Anyone know another Russian that needs humbled the old country way? pic.twitter.com/tEdSoUSX45
— “Young Male Model” (@Benaskren) October 25, 2018
Super Fight
Another magnificent contest would be against Georges St. Pierre. For the true fight fan, this would be an incredible contest. The likes of SBG Ireland head coach John Kavanagh have called on this to happen. Askren has next level wrestling so it would be fascinating to see how this would go down.
Hey @GeorgesStPierre please name your terms of engagement!!! Who would you like me to beat up or how many twitter followers would you like me to have. You name it’s done. Then I’ll see you in Montreal.
— “Young Male Model” (@Benaskren) October 26, 2018
Shut Down
Then there were just a few fighters who Askren clearly has no time for because he believes he’s on a totally different level. The likes of Masvidal and Alan Jouban all felt the full force of his Twitter power. Realistically he might need to take one of these opponents first, just to build up the hype train a little bit more. If you follow MMA at all seriously you should be excited by Askren, but a lot of casual western fans might not be familiar with him yet (No disrespect meant!)
Alan being humbled in front of millions isn’t something fake tough like happening to them. You’re 1-2 in your last 3, go back to modeling. https://t.co/eNwKBAZBC8
— “Young Male Model” (@Benaskren) October 25, 2018
Enjoy him crushing Jorge Masvidal…
Jorge you haven’t won a fight since Jan 2017! If you had a shred of self awareness you would realize it would be an honor for you to share the cage with me. https://t.co/oI5BCDS0RM
— “Young Male Model” (@Benaskren) October 25, 2018
Who da fook is dat guy?
Well I appreciate you being the only one with the courage Mike, but let’s be real: you suck, you know you aren’t getting the shot. https://t.co/xMAV4jpZmg
— “Young Male Model” (@Benaskren) October 25, 2018
Welcome Ben
It is going to be absolutely fascinating to see just how effective Askren’s style will be – and whether his personality can balance out the fact that a lot of casual fans don’t really enjoy watching MMA wrestling. When some fans still call Khabib Nurmagamedov’s style boring, you know there’s an issue.
