Ben Askren is a free agent in January of 2018

[Meathead Jock]

From his sherdog q&a tonight he said he was a free agent at that point; which is sooner than his multi match exclusive or title extension clause often mentioned.

He said to ask him then if he regretted signing with ONE. On twitter he is trying to push to fight every month until the end of the year. Safe to ASSUME if they dont give him some fights he will be voicing his frustration.

On a disappointing (but not shocking) note he repeated retirement is the most likely option.

http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/o...hampion-funky-ben-askren-sherdog-q-a.3532599/

 

[kingcillo24]

I wonder if ONE is having trouble providing incentives for Askren, so they signed a streaming deal with FloCombat. Askren is on the payroll there.

 

[leto1776]

Doubt anyone would want him. Bellator already let him go, and rather than try and reach out to the UFC, he repeatedly talked shit.

 

[Meathead Jock]

Doubt anyone would want him. Bellator already let him go, and rather than try and reach out to the UFC, he repeatedly talked shit.

Retirement and full time coaching does look like the most likely route.

Although Coker is in charge now and it was Bjorn when he burnt his bridge exiting.

 

[Deleted member 363827]

He probably will return to Bellator then.

 

[Thesnake101]

Maybe he'll go to that PFL thingy, at least that'd keep him quite active, not to mention that he would get quite a decent payday if he wins the season.

 

[manboy<3]

I don't see why he wants to retire

There is huge money right in the Russian promotions ..He could potentially angle for a fight with the best Russian welterweight/middle weight they could find and get around 150-400k

Russia promotions are burning money right now, it would be idiotic if he didn't try and go there


Also RIZIN against Either Aoki or Ken Hasegawa would be sweet if RIZIN were willing to pay him the money..

Hell maybe even Bellator would be interested, Askeren joining would potentially give Bellator the strongest WW in MMA

Now is the perfect time for him to try and get big money fights I have no idea why he wants to retire

 

[Meathead Jock]

Now is the perfect time for him to try and get big money fights I have no idea why he wants to retire

The fanboy in me thinks its because he won't use PEDs so he is starting to regress and he'd rather retire undefeated.

Could just be threatening to retire to try and light a fire under ONEs ass, but I think his retirement talk is legit. He always says he wants to get out on top like Barry Sanders and not stick around too long and become a punching bag.

 

[Meathead Jock]

Maybe he'll go to that PFL thingy, at least that'd keep him quite active, not to mention that he would get quite a decent payday if he wins the season.

Just looked. That is set to start in January so the timing might work out perfect and would be a good fit.

 

[greenskye23]

Wouldnt doubt it if he could still pull decent pay days in europe japan russia wherever for whoever , but would love to see him in ufc or bellator again as i think the bellator division has improved alot since askren left obviously with the additions of rory,larkin, guys that werent around when askren was there like mvp, chidi, and guys like lima and koreshkov who have made vast improvements since they have seen askren

 

[JkMMA]

Sign with rizin Ben askren!! One fc doesn't give u fights at all.

 

[usmctanker242]

Wouldnt doubt it if he could still pull decent pay days in europe japan russia wherever for whoever , but would love to see him in ufc or bellator again as i think the bellator division has improved alot since askren left obviously with the additions of rory,larkin, guys that werent around when askren was there like mvp, chidi, and guys like lima and koreshkov who have made vast improvements since they have seen askren

I feel this is EXACTLY why we won't see Ben head back to Bellator.

 

[loyalyolayal]

Sign with rizin Ben askren!! One fc doesn't give u fights at all.

Singapore should just grant him a citizenship at this point. There would be nonstop promotion & can-crushing if he's Singapore's own.

heh.

 

[SSgt Dickweed]

I can honestly see Askren beating Maia or Woodley if he fought either.


Deal with it.

 

[IndyCovaHart]

Start the PR campaign, MJ.

 

[Meathead Jock]

Start the PR campaign, MJ.

Hopefully he has at least another fight aside from next weeks beat down before his contract expires.

Needs to show more than he has in his last two outings in order for me to ramp up the full PR push. Hoping the free agency makes him step up his effort this year much like you see from athletes in other sports during their contract year.

 

[CC27]

Dont think UFC would go hard after him at this point, not sure what Bellator would do.

Fans def dont seem to care about him like they did a few years ago when hardcore fans wanted to see him tested vs the best.

THink years of fighting bums and barely fighting and being out the minds of fans have most hardcore fans feeling meh about him.

Maybe that would change if he signed with UFC/Bellator and instantly got thrown in with the top UFC guys or Rory, Larkin, MVP etc in Bellator.

I would say maybe Bellator is an option with Coker, not the most fan friendly guy but he'd give them another legit WW to boost that div. Maybe thats enough for them to pay him to come there more than him being a draw and getting them ratings.

Maybe a Russian org would bring him in and pay him, def possible, that might be the most likely landing spot for him actually.

Does seem like his heart isnt in this anymore so maybe he'll collect another check or two and then coach.

 

[Kingz]

Retirement and full time coaching does look like the most likely route.

Although Coker is in charge now and it was Bjorn when he burnt his bridge exiting.

Not sure if Ben burnt his bridge more so than Bellator(likely Spike more so than Bjorn) were about as interested in keeping Ben as the UFC was in acquiring him. Which was not at all.

It's a shame...but both orgs were afraid of Ben.

 

[Phrozenspite]

I'm guessing at this point in his career the undefeated what if angle is probably more important to his post fighting life than ever proving himself in the UFC.

 

[Meathead Jock]

Not sure if Ben burnt his bridge more so than Bellator(likely Spike more so than Bjorn) were about as interested in keeping Ben as the UFC was in acquiring him. Which was not at all.

It's a shame...but both orgs were afraid of Ben.

Certainly possible. They offered him a contract though, it just wasn't worth undefeated champion money. So he spent most of his final days in Bellator talking about the UFC to the point Bellator had to feel a bit disrespected. By the time it became clear the UFC weren't going to hire Ben he had burnt the bridge too bad to try and renegotiate their first offer that was too low.

So he let ONE and WSOF have a bidding war of sorts for him.