Ben Askren News

Drake Riggs - February 25, 2019

This Saturday night at UFC 235, the welterweight title will be on the line as the champion Tyron Woodley defends against Kamaru Usman. In Woodley’s last time out, he successfully defended his crown against Darren Till at UFC 228. A fight that many expected to feature the, at the time, interim champion Colby Covington.

Tom Taylor - February 5, 2019

At the UFC 235 press conference, former ONE and Bellator welterweight champ Ben Askren divulged that he and top welterweight contender Kamaru Usman very nearly came to blows backstage. Days after the press conference wrapped up, Will Harris of Anatomy of a Fighter released footage of this backstage confrontation.

Tom Taylor - February 4, 2019

Over the last few weeks, former ONE and Bellator welterweight champ Ben Askren has exchanged a number of barbs with UFC 235 welterweight title challenger Kamaru Usman — who he refers to at ‘Marty.’ Late last week, Usman and Askren were in attendance at the UFC 235 press conference to promote their upcoming fights with Tyron Woodley and Robbie Lawler respectively, and they had plenty to say to each other on stage.

Tom Taylor - February 1, 2019

Former ONE Championship and Bellator titleholder Ben Askren is currently scheduled to make his UFC debut against former UFC champ Robbie Lawler at UFC 235 on March 2. While this high-stakes welterweight scrap is just a month away, much of Askren’s focus seems to be on a fight with undefeated UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov, who he hopes to meet in the inaugural title fight for the still hypothetical 165-pound division. Ben Askren once again called for this fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov at Thursday nights’ UFC 235 press conference.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2019

Last night, UFC welterweight contender Darren Till let his fingers fly on Twitter, taking aim at a number of his rivals in the division. One of his targets was former ONE Championship and Bellator welterweight king Ben Askren who, unsurprisingly, was prompt to fire back. See the pair’s wild exchange below.

Thomas Taylor - January 26, 2019

Earlier this week, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov discussed the upcoming UFC debut of former Bellator and ONE Championship welterweight titleholder Ben Askren. “He never fight in the UFC,” Nurmagomedov told Submission Radio of Askren. “He has to fight in the UFC first of all. He has to show his levels because I see how someone smash him in ONE FC. Somebody like smashed him in ONE FC. He just signed to the UFC and tried talk, you know. But now everybody tries to talk and promote these things, but you have to compete in the UFC, then we’re gonna see his levels.”

Chris Taylor - January 26, 2019

Current UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov recently discussed the upcoming octagon debut of Ben Askren. Askren, a former Bellator and ONE champion, will square off with former UFC title holder Robbie Lawler at March’s highly anticipated UFC 235 event in Las Vegas.

Tom Taylor - January 16, 2019

Last night, top UFC middleweight contender Kelvin Gastelum took a shot at UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley for plotting a move up to the middleweight division. https://twitter.com/KelvinGastelum/status/1085252534401265664

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2018

Former ONE Championship and Bellator welterweight titleholder Ben Askren has had some pretty heated exchanges with UFC President Dana White in the past. Now that Askren is a member of the UFC welterweight roster, however, many fans believed his relationship with the UFC boss might finally improve. Speaking to MMAjunkie recently, Ben Askren updated on his relationship with Dana White. He admitted that there are still some lingering issues — though those issues could probably be patched up by a good, old-fashioned face-to-face conversation.

Drake Riggs - December 18, 2018

View this post on Instagram

Tom Taylor - December 13, 2018

After a long struggle to find a suitable main event for UFC 233, which was scheduled for January 26 in Anaheim, the promotion has decided to cancel the card outright. The bouts that were scheduled for this event, including a high profile welterweight bout between former UFC champ Robbie Lawler and former ONE and Bellator champ Ben Askren, will be rescheduled for future cards. It did not take long for the UFC to find a new for this Lawler vs. Askren fight.

Cole Shelton - December 11, 2018

UFC 233, the first pay-per-view of 2019, is just over a month away and it still doesn’t have a main event. That was not initially the case, as a flyweight title fight between TJ Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo was originally supposed to headline the card. However, when that fight was moved up a week to headline the first ESPN card in Brooklyn, UFC 233 was left without a main event. Now, with the majority of champions booked, injured or recovering from recent fights, the UFC finds itself in a tough situation. There are not a lot of viable options left available for the UFC 233 main event — especially if the promotion wants to compete with Bellator 214, which will be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Ryan Bader, and airs the same night.

Chris Taylor - December 9, 2018

Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor had an interesting exchange with undefeated welterweight Ben Askren late yesterday evening. Shortly following Max Holloway’s impressive stoppage victory over Brian Ortega in the main event of UFC 231, former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen took to Twitter with the following statement.

Drake Riggs - December 7, 2018

It appears that things are getting a bit scrambled atop the UFC’s 170-pound division. But that doesn’t mean that the fighters aren’t trying to create solutions of their own. After Kamaru Usman’s big win over Rafael Dos Anjos at The Ultimate Fighter 28 Finale, he was already back to working on his next fight as he announced that he had been offered Colby Covington for sometime in January.

Christopher Taylor - November 28, 2018

Late last month it was announced that undefeated welterweight Ben Askren would be joining the UFC as part of a historic trade that sent pound-for-pound great Demetrious Johnson to ONE Championship. Four weeks later and we now know who the former Bellator and ONE title holder, Ben Askren, will be facing in his highly anticipated octagon debut.

Tom Taylor - November 23, 2018

Former ONE Championship and Bellator titleholder Ben Askren is finally in the UFC. And while his debut — a UFC 233 battle with Robbie Lawler — is still some distance away, he’s already feeling the love from the fans. Speaking on the UFC Unfiltered podcast recently, Ben Askren explained why he thinks UFC fans have come to appreciate him.

Tom Taylor - November 20, 2018

UFC President Dana White has not been shy about his disdain for former ONE Championship and Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren in the past. Yet Chael Sonnen believes the UFC President will come to love the American wrestler, who has finally joined the UFC roster. In fact, he thinks Askren is likely to become White’s favorite fighter.

Tom Taylor - November 16, 2018

Yesterday afternoon, the MMA community was hit by the exciting news that, after four long years away from the Octagon, former Strikeforce welterweight champ and UFC welterweight title challenger Nick Diaz could soon be returning. According to a report from ESPN, the Stockton-based fan favorite could be making his long-awaited comeback opposite Jorge Masvidal at UFC 235. One of the first members of the MMA community to react to this news was Ben Askren, one of the highest-profile UFC signings of late. Askren, who is the former ONE Championship and Bellator lightweight king, is currently linked to a January scrap with former UFC welterweight champ Robbie Lawler.