Ben Askren kicking the Bellator tires to see if there is interest from the company in his return

[qw3rty]

I think Askren loses to all the Bellator top WWs at this point.

Lima and Koreshkov improved a lot since their first fight. Rory and Larkin are elite guys. And most important Askren looked like shit lately. He really regressed.

I agree with you.
The other sherdoggers favor him over the entire division for some reason, but I have no doubt Rory will jab him to death.
Askren is slow and has zero striking to hide the TD attempt, with Rory's wrestling background, speed and size I can't see a single way for Askren to win this fight

 

[The ScorpioN]

He's like Tito Ortiz but without the fighting skills or successful MMA career.

Guy would literally beat Ireland's top 5 fighters from 155 to 185 lbs in one night. Maybe even higher weights, since they can't wrestle anyway.

He's a top 5 WW.

 

[Cid]

I agree with you.
The other sherdoggers favor him over the entire division for some reason, but I have no doubt Rory will jab him to death.
Askren is slow and has zero striking to hide the TD attempt, with Rory's wrestling background, speed and size I can't see a single way for Askren to win this fight

Maia is slow with zero striking to hide the TD attempt.

Still managed it.

 

[Dick]

Askren recently said he's pretty much done competing when his ONE contract is up. I seriously doubt he'll jump into the current talent pool against fighters that have actively been competing against actual fighters and not Singaporean fucking pizza boys.

 

[Uber_Noober]

Has he crushed all the cans in Japan already?

 

[The ScorpioN]

Maia is slow with zero striking to hide the TD attempt.

Still managed it.

And Askren doesn't gas.

 

[Kingz]

Lima be like

 

[Meathead Jock]

Lima be like

Lol if that's Lima i'd hate to see Koreshkov.

Koreshkov has improved undoubtedly but I think you are foolish if you pick him over Ben. Sure he showed some TD defense against Bendo but the rest of Bellator 170lbers are strikers. And no mater how great he has looked like vs Bendo and strikers that doesn't help him vs Askren.

If he grew to beat Askren it would be the greatest mma comeback flip flop of all time that didnt involve some flash KO.

 

[leto1776]

He's like Tito Ortiz but without the fighting skills or successful MMA career.

Curious to see if Flo keeps airing ONE ppv's if so that could be a long term steam of a deal crafted by Askren. May have been a one off for his fight though.

Don't quote me on this (well, go ahead if you want) but I think it was a long term deal to keep him happy about his contract and to prevent him from lashing out against them. If it was a single event deal, I'll be pissed to have bout a one year deal with Flo to not get ONE anymore. I'll cancel Mu subscription and chalk it up as a loss.

 

[Fluffernutter]

Who is paying for his ticket?

If Bellator, he is coming back.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Maybe the Bellator guys can rewatch some of Askrens fights. If they're still awake at the end they should resign him.
He'd win their title back though, if they did sign him.

I don't think Askren beats Rory or Larkin, I even think in rematches Koreshkov and Lima could pose stiff challenges for him.

Askren fought Koreshkov when he was young and undefeated, after that loss Koreshkov improved his wrestling tremendously and has improved a lot overall, he's only 26.

Askren fought Lima, when Lima was 26 I believe? Lima made some mistakes, like he took Ben down a couple times in the early rounds but then got reversed. Lima gave Askren trouble until he gassed out in the 2nd round, since that fight Lima has hit his prime, improved his skills and his cardio, since that loss Lima has stayed around 189-191lbs year round and does not cut nearly as much weight as he used to.

Rory chews up fighters like Askren, Rory shut down Maia and Woodley for fucks sake.

Lorenz is great at managing distance, is big, fast, athletic and has great takedown defense. I think Larkin can find the KO and create space to break Askrens chain Wrestling.

That all being said, Askren is an undefeated MMA champ, former Olympic wrestling. Dudes top 10/15 however you look at it. Bellator should sign him, the more elite talent the better and Askren is a lot more marketable now, he's good at talking shit.

 

[TheBrownRanger]

Bellator signed Phil Davis and Ryan Bader. Why not Ben Askren? They have a lot of footage of him to work with and is their lineal champion. He also has some history with the last two champs and a fairly decent online fanbase.

I'm gonna be on the unpopular side of this one and say he still beats Koreshkov and Lima in the same fashion. I dunno about Rory, even Dennis Olson beat Daley's wrestling

 

[CDF47]

It'd be great to see Askren back in Bellator.

 

[eseseses681]

Isn't he making a fortune with One? Maybe not?

I think he's hedging his bets in case he decides not to retire at the end of the year and ONE doesn't give him his requested two more fights before his contract's up. I think he's happy with ONE for the most part and wouldn't mind re-signing with 'em if they fulfill their bargain-- and if they give him his fights, he still wants to fight and no other org gives him a better contract, it's not like he's got a reason to not re-sign with 'em (especially if he gets a shot at the middleweight belt and becomes a two-divisional champion in ONE.) But if they don't and he still wants to fight a few more times (I think he's towards the end of his career anyways and it's really just a matter of whether or not he wants to stop fighting at before he's 34 or before he's 35 and moves on to something else-- he does have other interests outside of fighting, after all), he's building up another option.

 

[Guile]

If Askren comes back, Bellator's WW division will rival the UFC's.

already does basically.. I prefer Bellators top 5 WWs over UFCs
Rory, Koreshkov, Lima, Larkin, MVP/Daley. All fantastic strikers.

 

[Meathead Jock]

Don't quote me on this (well, go ahead if you want) but I think it was a long term deal to keep him happy about his contract and to prevent him from lashing out against them. If it was a single event deal, I'll be pissed to have bout a one year deal with Flo to not get ONE anymore. I'll cancel Mu subscription and chalk it up as a loss.

That was my tipping point that caused the 1 year subscription too. Although I like Collegiate Wrestling so the World Team Trials on there a couple of weeks ago were nice.

 

[Kim Jong Un]

He should go to UFC. He beats everyone not named Maia.

 

[Cantalope]

He'd beat everyone but Rory in Bellator.

 

[potemkin723]

I hope Bellator signs him, Askren is really wasting his time competing in ONE.

I doubt he will beat Lima or Koreshkov this time.

 

[potemkin723]

Askren is back, I'm sure of it.