Dana on Askren: He's Just Not My Kind of Guy

[waiguoren]

Has "I'm a Dana White Guy" caught on yet?

Lol. Looking forward to fighters saying this in post-fight interviews.

Askren = Lindland 2.0

 

[waiguoren]

Askren screwed himself by talking about title shots before he is even signed. Had Askren had a different attitude he might have been signed. He deserves to be in the UFC .... but I was not a fan of his attitude and had a feeling he was not getting signed.

Askren has the mindest of an elite athlete. His achievements are largely a result of his stubbornness. He is not fast or strong but he managed to become one of the best folkstyle wrestlers in recent memory. I wonder if Sherdoggers have any inkling as to the kind of obsessiveness and dedication it takes to turn an slow, weak guy into an elite wrestler. We are not talking about Kevin Randleman or Josh Koscheck. We're talking about a guy who many Sherdoggers can beat in a 40-yard-dash.

Fight promoters are no stranger to such personalities and in fact they should embrace them.

Ariel Helwani's take:

This whole story, in my opinion, can be summed up with one word: ego. It's all about ego. Bjorn Rebney didn't want to sign Ben Askren because Ben Askren openly said, "I want to go to the UFC". So he said, "You know what, I'm going to...I'm going to taint you on the way out, tell the UFC 'here I'm giving him to you.'" He didn't do that with Eddie Alvarez, He didn't do that with Hector Lombard. He was upset that Ben Askren didn't want to be there and he let him go. And he was expendable because he's not a huge draw. Dana White was not going to play that game because of ego. He's not going to take the guy that Bjorn is going to give to me---no way! He's going to take the guy that Bjorn wants: Eddie Alvarez. He's going to take the guy that Bjorn wants: Hector Lombard...The worst thing that could have happened to World Series of Fighting was when Dana White said, "go to World Series of Fighting"...Askren said "no no no" because of his ego: "Youre not going to sign me? I'm not going to go where you want me to go. You're not going to tell me where to fight if you're not going to sign me."

Askren talk starts right from the beginning, around 0:38 : [YT]8a-51wJpR4w[/YT]

 

[The_Renaissance]

I agree that a top 10 ranking isn't justified. Doesn't change that the only legit challenge to Askren outside the UFC is Palhares---yet I think we all know Palhares has nothing for Askren. Who does he need to fight to convince you? Fitch? Burkman? Carl? Give MMA fans a break.

He doesn't have to convince me of anything - he's one of the most decorated wrestlers in the sport, the former Bellator champion and undefeated in MMA.

He's a damn good fighter. But Fitch, Burkman, Carl, Palhares would be significantly more impressive victories than Good, Amoussou and Koreshkov. And 100 times more significant that the guys he's gonna be facing in ONE FC.

Askren definitely is a UFC fighter, no question. It's just a shame there were so many egos involved in this situation, and I'm flat-out bored of hearing about it now. It's done, let it go (no you personally, just in general).

If I was Askren, this is what I'd be doing - signing with WS0F, beating all of the guys I've listed above, then saying "Look Dana, I'm now 20-0, the most marketable new signing in terms of my record and pedigree you could wish for - gimme that title shot".

We all know WS0F is pretty much a Zuffa feeder, Dana just wanted him to get the Bellator scent washed off before signing him under these circumstances. Shitty move by Dana, but a shitty decision by Ben - no fucker will consider him an immediate title-threat and a big-bucks employee with wins over Phil Baroni and Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

 

[waiguoren]

He doesn't have to convince me of anything - he's one of the most decorated wrestlers in the sport, the former Bellator champion and undefeated in MMA.

He's a damn good fighter. But Fitch, Burkman, Carl, Palhares would be significantly more impressive victories than Good, Amoussou and Koreshkov. And 100 times more significant that the guys he's gonna be facing in ONE FC.

Askren definitely is a UFC fighter, no question. It's just a shame there were so many egos involved in this situation, and I'm flat-out bored of hearing about it now. It's done, let it go (no you personally, just in general).

If I was Askren, this is what I'd be doing - signing with WS0F, beating all of the guys I've listed above, then saying "Look Dana, I'm now 20-0, the most marketable new signing in terms of my record and pedigree you could wish for - gimme that title shot".

We all know WS0F is pretty much a Zuffa feeder, Dana just wanted him to get the Bellator scent washed off before signing him under these circumstances. Shitty move by Dana, but a shitty decision by Ben - no fucker will consider him an immediate title-threat and a big-bucks employee with wins over Phil Baroni and Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

Well said.I really don't think any of those WSOF fighters have anything for Askren, but I get it: it's good to have them on his C.V. regardless.Only reason I want to keep it alive a bit longer is to get a better response out of Dana White than the crap he gave us in the Helwani interview.

 

[MaTaLa]

Has "I'm a Dana White Guy" caught on yet?

"Do you wanna be a fuckin' Dana White guy?"...perfect.