Ben Askren vs. Robbie Lawler
Ben Askren’s long awaited Octagon debut at UFC 235 got off to a thrilling start when Robbie Lawler stuffed the former Olympic wrestler’s initial takedown attempt and then slammed him on his head.
Askren then looked on the verge of the first career loss as Lawler bloodied him up with ground and pound strikes.
However, Askren then turned the tables by getting back to his feet, bringing Lawler to the mat and getting him in a bulldog choke.
There’s no doubt that it was a dangerous submission and Lawler’s arm did drop to the mat, but what Herb Dean didn’t notice as he moved in to end the fight was that ‘Ruthless’ had given him a thumbs up to signal he was ok.
As soon as the fight ended Lawler got straight got up and protested the stoppage, although he then showed good sportsmanship by informing Dean that despite the error he was still “a f***ing hell of a referee.”
