Askren calls Dana immature and disrespectful: "he's not going to push me around"

This whole interview makes Askren comes across like an idiot.

1. Dana is not a billionaire.

2. So the UFC has signed other Bellator fighters and tried to get Eddie as well but they wont sign askren because of the war with bellator? Again Askren doesn't know what he's talking about.

3. How is Dana White suggesting he go to WSOF telling Ben what to do? Once again the guy doesn't know what he's talking about.

4. He's bragging that he's going to earn more than 85-90% of the roster but was considering retiring? Something doesn't add up here.
 
hussar922 said:
given white's history do you really think so - he's already proven that he thinks he's bigger than the sport - the best thing for mma would be for white to get an ego check
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It would seem absurd, and I would like to give Dana more credit than that, but you're right; it wouldn't be a shock if the Bjorn gripes were actually a reason for the no-sign.
 
I want to see Askren in the UFC. Dana's never liked Askren. I remember a few years ago he said something about not liking Askren.
 
stevensm93 said:
It doesnt matter if Ben Askren is better than half the guys on the ufc roster or not .Bottom line he's a boring fighter with a less than stellar fan base. He's just not worth the money that hes asking .
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He's not that boring.



So who has had a stellar fan base coming into the UFC besides Kimbo slice and James Toney?? That's one of the dumbest first posts I've seen. Probably UFC marketing.
 
It is pretty incredible they didn't offer him 15k/15k, and have Ben turn it down, they just straight up didn't offer him a contract.

The only defense of Zuffa would be that Askren made it clear what he expected in a contract, and Zuffa didn't feel that it was in their interests. It seems like that didn't even happen though.
 
This whole situation is a joke. Unless I find out that Askren wanted Lombard money and wasn't willing to negotiate any less, it is going to leave a really bad taste in my mouth. Everything about this just makes the UFC seem scummy.

Fuck, I hope I don't only see Askren fight every 5 months against the 178th ranked WW. Jesus, at this right he might as well pull a 'Blud' Anderson and fight some open-weight tournaments to prove a point. Maybe get a cross-over fight with KSW and take on Materla or Mamed too. I know none of that is in WW, but at this point, who cares? Make the money fights and 'super-fights' (yeah, using that really loosely) because that's all that's worth seeing.

The boring talk isn't even worth responding to. The guy literally became a MMA fighter before our eyes from his starting point as a pure wrestler. He's been finishing in last fights, two to be exact which was all that Antonio McKee needed to get invited.

There's a difference between cutting guys with a big price-tag, little fan value, on the down-slopes of their career who have already had a title shot and multiple title eliminators. That's just a different situation. Ben never got his chance and that's criminal.
 
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Kyoto said:
Why is it a hard concept for you all to understand that Dana White has no obligation to sign Askren? Typical entitlement mentality.
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as the ceo of a fight sport that labels itself as the true fights sport white is under obligation to get the best talent inside the octagon - the companies long term viability depends on the consumer's belief that "the best fight here" - a basic tenant and at this point mantra of the ufc - white has just actively undermined this concept for no other reason than to serve his own out-sized sense of self-importance

as for the silly "entitlement" comment: if you don't think askren's credentials have clearly earned him a slot on the ufc roster than you don't understand the sport
 
God, please give us Shane Del Rosario back and take Dana in his place, please?

Please? I certainly wouldn't have been saddened by that. This guy is terrible for MMA.

War Askren.
 
Amerikuracana said:
I think it would be cool to see Bellator grow a little more over the next couple years, and then have Ben come back to Bellator.


The UFC can take the 50 9-3/12-4 guys on their roster with no wins as good as Lima, Koreschev, Amassou, or even Hieron, and stick them up their arse. The UFC has a fantastic roster, and the sad truth is they did not need Ben Askren to make a lot of great WW fights over the next year, but this still sets a bad precedent. I may not watch a show or two because of this little clusterf**k. This hurts the sport.
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So your going to boycott the UFC because they didn't sign Ben Askren without knowing any details of the negotiation process? For all we know Ben went into the meeting asking for way to much plus PPV points and the UFC said no. Which lets be honest a fighter like Ben does not deserve PPV points.

I don't care how this situation was handled you know why? Because I don't know what happened and if you think I'm going to take the word of Ben Askren over Dana White your crazy. Both of them could be lying for all I know and after the whole Randy Couture - "I never got a million dollar signing bonus" I don't trust any of these guys.

So instead of trying to place blame on anyone without knowing any of the details I just stay out of it.
 
I'm not a fan of most of Askren's fights, but i respect him, and he was good enough to win Bellator's strap and nobody could take it off of him.

Dana has always preached this is where the best fight the best well that statement was bullshit when he said it.

As i said I'm not a fan of Ben Askren, but he's more than good enough to be in the UFC,I feel he's right about this situation, but whether he can beat the entire WW division or not well that's on him to prove, but he didn't even get that chance to prove it at all because Dana has a hard on for Bellator.

So mad respect to Ben for being real I admire that, and wish him the best.
 
The_Renaissance said:
He's not wrong, but Askren just put the final nail in his coffin, he'll never be in the UFC now.

But also, it is true that Askren has not fought anybody of note. Hieron is still his biggest win to date for fucks sake.
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Hieron has the biggest name recognition of the people Askren has fought but he is not the only big win imo.

Hornbuckle, Lyman Good, Lima, Karl Amoussou and Andrey Koreshkov are verry decent opponents aswell. they dont carry the name recognition but these guys are all good fighters
 
Torrid said:
This whole situation is a joke. Unless I find out that Askren wanted Lombard money and wasn't willing to negotiate any less, it is going to leave a really bad taste in my mouth. Everything about this just makes the UFC seem scummy.

Fuck, I hope I don't only see Askren fight every 5 months against the 170th ranked WW. Jesus, at this right he might as well pull a 'Blud' Anderson and fight some open-weight tournaments to prove a point. Maybe get a cross-over fight with KSW and take on Materla or Mamed too. I know none of that is in WW, but at this point, who cares? Make the money fights and 'super-fights' (yeah, using that really loosely) because that's all that's worth seeing.

The boring talk isn't even worth responding to. The guy literally became a MMA fighter before our eyes from his starting point as a pure wrestler. He's been finishing in last fights, two to be exact which was all that Antonio McKee needed to get invited.

There's a difference between cutting guys with a big price-tag, little fan value, on the down-slopes of their career who have already had a title shot and multiple title eliminators. That's just a different situation. Ben never got his chance and that's criminal.
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The UFC seems scummy because that's what people want to see. Askren basically gave us not details about what he wanted or what was offered and you come to the conclusion that the UFC is scummy? He even said they were very respectful during the meeting.

In fact this whole interview is Askren making assumptions (that history has already proven wrong).
 
I love how people hate on Dana for not signing Askren but nobody mentions how Bjorn threw his own undefeated champ away. I'm convinced he asked for too much money considering that he is clearly not a draw.
 
KneetoLiver said:
It would seem absurd, and I would like to give Dana more credit than that, but you're right; it wouldn't be a shock if the Bjorn gripes were actually a reason for the no-sign.
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the very fact that his stated reason was askren's credentials puts the lie to it - his creds are stellar and better than at least 85% of those getting their 1st contract with the ufc

they signed heiron off his loss to askren

add to that his suggestion that he sign with wsof, an org that has openly accepted a place as zuffa's farm league (a suggestion that at once spits on bellator and tells bellator fighters that you may have to fight for another promotion no matter how well you do before the ufc and therefore adding another step to the ladder) and it's clear what this was all about

and mind you: the move won't give any unsigned fighters pause if bellator offers them a deal but the idea of it will stroke white's ego
 
method115 said:
So your going to boycott the UFC because they didn't sign Ben Askren without knowing any details of the negotiation process? For all we know Ben went into the meeting asking for way to much plus PPV points and the UFC said no. Which lets be honest a fighter like Ben does not deserve PPV points.

I don't care how this situation was handled you know why? Because I don't know what happened and if you think I'm going to take the word of Ben Askren over Dana White your crazy. Both of them could be lying for all I know and after the whole Randy Couture - "I never got a million dollar signing bonus" I don't trust any of these guys.

So instead of trying to place blame on anyone without knowing any of the details I just stay out of it.
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You're not staying out of it you're defending the UFC/Dana White like you have some vested interest in it.
 
method115 said:
The UFC seems scummy because that's what people want to see. Askren basically gave us not details about what he wanted or what was offered and you come to the conclusion that the UFC is scummy? He even said they were very respectful during the meeting.

In fact this whole interview is Askren making assumptions (that history has already proven wrong).
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his implication was that they were 2-faced - and he's not making assumptions he's just not dishing on details which he clearly says he's in possession of - obviously he doesn't want to completely burn down any bridges
 
Hector Lombard didn't seem to have these problems. Maybe it's because he never tried to put Nyquil out of business.
 
hussar922 said:
given white's history do you really think so - he's already proven that he thinks he's bigger than the sport - the best thing for mma would be for white to get an ego check
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lets leave out the fact askren is boring as fuck and shit talked white not to long ago. but yes white is the issue.
 
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