Bellator Welterweight champion Ben Askren took time to talk with the guys on BJPENN.com radio. Askren is that rare breed of fighter who is extremely talented and very candid during his interviews. We recap Askren’s answers in regards to the Michael Bisping feud, recent UFC cuts, and UFC 158. He also tells the guys about a secret grudge match that he really wants to happen.

Michael Bisping feud

Recently there has been a war of tweets between Askren and UFC Middleweight Michael Bisping. It all started when it was announced that Bisping would be fighting Askren’s friend and teammate Alan Belcher. Both fighters talked about how they were going to knock each other out. A friendly tattoo wager was issued by Belcher, and then a faux counter bet by Bisping. Then Askren and Bisping started to tweet each other. It began with Askren tweeting, “Alan’s not juicing what’re you going to do then, what’s going to be your excuse then?”

Askren went on to talk about the match-up between Belcher and Bisping:

“I’m not really helping Alan too much in this fight, because I don’t think there’s going to be too much wrestling to it. You know, Michael Bisping actually has pretty decent wrestling defense, he’s kind of annoying to hold down. So for Alan to try and take him down it really wouldn’t be worth it and I don’t think Michael Bisping has what it takes to take Alan down. So I really see this fight happening almost exclusively on the feet. I see Alan winning that”

When Askren was asked about Bisping questioning his talent, and the talent of the Bellator fighters he has faced he had this to say:

“I’m not too worried about it. I’m pretty secure in my skill level. And I know how good I am. So when he goes on that, it doesn’t even bother me.”

Recent cuts by UFC

There has been a lot of attention thrown the UFC in regards to the cuts they have made. It is now become common ground to get the opinion of the top fighters on this subject. The most notable cut was Jon Fitch. Most fans, journalists, and pundits are split on the validity of the move by the UFC to release a top ten fighter in his weight class. Askren was asked to give his opinion of the move.

“I think the funny thing about that is his two fights before he got cut he got fight of the night against Erik Silva in Brazil. I think there has been bad blood between him and the UFC for a while, I think going all the way back to when he wouldn’t sign the video game deal. Remember they cut him for like a day or two days, and then they brought him back. But I just think there’s always been bad blood there and obviously he gets paid a crap ton of money and that probably had something to do with it. I’m a fighter and that’s Dana’s business to run. Would I have made that move? No.”

With fighters now put on notice of possibly being cut for reasons other than record, Askren was asked about whether Bisping or Belcher should worry about their status in the UFC.

“I don’t think either of these guys have any chance of being cut. Bisping has been a cornerstone of the UFC for forever, and he’s the no. 1 British fighter, and with any British fighters it’s hard to tell Hardy lost five in a row and he didn’t get cut.”

UFC 158 and a grudge match

On March 16^th two the top Welterweights in the world will fight for the UFC championship. As one of the top fighters in that weight class, Askren was not shy to give his thoughts on the upcoming event.

“I think it would be awesome if Diaz won. That would shock the world, and that would be exciting. I think the chances of that happening are relatively small. Diaz doesn’t really have the power, and I don’t think he’ll be able to stop the takedowns enough times to stand with GSP. Hopefully it will be an entertaining fight. Hopefully we’re not sitting there twiddling our thumbs, watching GSP hold him down. The guy there that’s dangerous for GSP is Johny Hendricks. Hendricks would be able to stop the good majority of GSP’s takedowns, and I think we saw that when GSP was reluctant to fight him. When Diaz is coming off a drug related suspension off a loss and gets a title shot that has never ever ever happened in the history of the UFC, probably any promotion, where a guy comes off loss and a drug suspension and gets a title shot. But I think that is the fight GSP wanted, because it’s definitely easier less risky.”

The respect for Hendricks did not end as he went on to talk about the Hendricks-Condit match-up.

“I think Johny (Hendricks) wins very easy. I think he’s just too powerful. I think if he wants to take him down, he’ll take him down. Whatever he wants, Carlos’s jiu-jitsu really isn’t that dangerous. With Hendricks strong wrestling background I would be shocked if he got swept or submitted or anything like that. I think it’s a fairly good fight.”

It was fairly obvious that Askren respects the talent of Hendricks. He then went on to explain that he would love to fight Hendricks, a grudge match that he has been wanting for almost ten years.

“I would love to fight him. He actually beat me all the way back in high school. So we’re going back a good ten or dozen years ago that he beat me. I always wanted to get another shot at him, but right when we were done with our college years (inaudible) he didn’t continue freestyle wrestling he went and fought. I continued wrestling through the Olympics, a year and a half two years. I always wanted to get another shot at him for the last ten years or so. I think it would be an interesting match-up. Obviously he’s got a lot of power so you got to watch out for that, I definitely think I’d be able to out grapple him.”

Now there is a match-up that would be fun to watch. Askren will face Bellator season seven winner Andrey Koreshkov, the bout has not been scheduled.

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