‘Funky’ Got Absolutely Demolished by Arguably the Greatest American Wrestler of All Time… But it was for Charity so We’ve Got to Give Him Some Respect…
Ben Askren is one of the few fighters on the UFC roster that’s just got that hint of stardust. ‘Funky’ has an unbeaten record of 19-0-1, and is the former Bellator and ONE Championship welterweight champion. Now he’s got his eye on the UFC belt, and with his teammate and training partner Tyron Woodley dethroned by Kamaru Usman, the opportunity is there to move towards an assault on the title.
Askren has gained a lot of headlines for his personality and smart trash talk. He’s got that combination of charm and charisma that saw Conor McGregor rise to the top so quickly. He’s also got a highly effective wrestling style that has befuddled almost every opponent he’s stood in front of – although he was very lucky against Robbie Lawlor.
The former Olympian went one step further with his wrestling at the weekend, when he took on arguably the greatest US wrestler of all time. Jordan Burroughs is an Olympic gold medallist and four-time world champion. Check out the highlights below.
He's a GOAT for a reason.
Jordan Burroughs leaves no doubt over Ben Askren. pic.twitter.com/OK7Bif5rip
— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) May 7, 2019
Demolished
First of all, we’ve got to emphasise that this was for charity. You’ve got to give Askren credit for stepping in there knowing that he was almost definitely going to get beaten. And he definitely did. Burroughs is an animal and ran through the UFC welterweight at Beat the Street’s “Grapple at the Garden” in New York’s Madison Square Garden. This might have been a loss for Askren, but he took it to help grow the sport.
Burroughs said afterwards that there are levels to his sport. It’s fair to say that a specialist will probably beat an MMA fighter if the latter steps into their sport. We saw the same when Conor McGregor boxed Conor McGregor. MMA fighters use these different combat sports in martial arts in a way that makes them work cohesively together.
There’s levels to this. pic.twitter.com/26z8SYy16F
— Jordan Burroughs (@alliseeisgold) May 7, 2019
Next Up
Askren was in good humour after the match, which he lost 11-0 after a technical fall. He is set to take on Jorge Masvidal at UFC 239 in July.
“If I had to put words into his mouth for him, I would say he’s pissed that a punk white kid has came into the UFC and is making over double him and I’ve had no history in the UFC,” Askren said in a recent interview with Ariel Helwani.
“And so in his head that’s unjust and he doesn’t like that and that’s unfair. To that I would say, well listen there’s a reason I made my brand so valuable and there’s a reason I get paid what I do. And if you look at any type of metrics, which you have Ariel so you can verify this for me, my numbers are looking pretty damn good Jorge so suck it.”
Results
For full results from an event full of wrestling action, see below:
Valentina Bailon VFA Elleny Seda, 12-11 3:22
Jo Jo Aragona VFA Adam Busiello, 6-0 4:06
Jack Mueller VSU Nick Piccininni, 10-0 2:29
Mallory Velte VSU Linda Morais, 10-0 1:32
James Green VPO1 Anthony Ashnault, 8-4
Kyle Snyder VSU1 Nishan Randhawa, 15-1 2:57
Nick Gwiazdowski VPO Derek White, 9-0
Becka Leathers VPO1 Diana Weicker, 10-6
Nick Suriano VPO1 Joe Colon, 3-1
Drew Foster VIN David Taylor, 0-0 0:31
J’den Cox VSU Patrick Brucki, 13-0 0:58
Yianni Diakomihalis VPO1 Bajrang Punia, 10-8
Jordan Burroughs VSU Ben Askren, 11-0 3:16
