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In the 24 hours that followed the rumor that Ben Askren would be part of a historic exchange between competing promotions, the former welterweight champion of the Bellator MMA and ONE has not lost any of time to align potential opponents.
If Askren (18-0, 1 NC), domineering and former NCAA champion twice in Missouri, ended up realizing his dream of competing against the top 170 UFC fighters, as reported Wednesday Ariel Helwani, of ESPN, one of the can expect that the smoke from his assault on Twitter on Thursday, causes a fire inside the Octagon.
Askren, 34, is about to get an agreement this would free him from his contract with ONE Championship, based in Asia, in an "exchange" with UFC that would send the long-time flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson, to ONE. It's a reality that little thought would ever be possible, including Askren himself, after his Twitter quarrel in 2012 with UFC President, Dana White seemed to seal his destiny as a persona non grata to the promotion.
Only months after announcing his retirement from the sport (with the warning that he would only come back for a great fight at the UFC), Askren has embarked on a tour de force on social media to recruit new opponents, many of whom fought back to him.
Thanks to his dominant game on the floor, Askren has largely dominated his opponents as a professional, including four defenses each of his titles Bellator and ONE. For years, MMA enthusiasts have wondered whether his one-dimensional style and his pedestrian-like typing game could produce the same success against the best UFC fighters.
It seems that Askren asked himself the same thing and used the negativity of rival fighters over the years as stored fuel.
Askren even tweeted what appears to be a hit for UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who joins Askren on the short list of the most dominant wrestlers in the MMA.
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