Ben Askren, an undefeated welterweight contender, is arguably one of the best fighters to never sign with the UFC and held titles in Bellator MMA and One Championship. The main reason is that, because he has been at odds with the UFC for some time, which was never really resolved.
Askren has been in the news lately after commenting that he’d like to fight former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St. Pierre inside the Octagon when the UFC returns to Montreal in 2019.
When asked by the media about whom he sees could be his possible opponent, if a deal does end up being settled.
In a recent interview on MMA on Sirius XM, on being asked about fighting Conor Mcgregor and Nate Diaz, Askren essentially shrugs at the names and says he’s going to stay on course in campaigning for a fight with GSP.
.@Benaskren tells @MieshaTate & @realOCsports that when it comes to a potential matchup with Conor McGregor in the UFC both he and Conor know that it would be a terrible idea for Mystic Mac to accept. pic.twitter.com/UNZDjcOQ0b
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) February 22, 2018
Nate Diaz sucks. I mean, yeah. [Conor] McGregor is barely the best in the world,” Askren said (transcript via BJPenn.com). “I mean, the guy beat up Nate Diaz barely a couple of times and Nate Diaz himself is a very mediocre UFC fighter. There is no way you can argue that sentiment because all you have to do is look at [Diaz’s] record.”
“The record shows he’s a very middle-of-the-road UFC fighter, he’s a 500 guy,” Askren said of Diaz. “He wins half, he loses half. Sure, he’s had some good wins, but he’s also had some terrible losses.”
Askren repeatedly said he would rather face Georges St-Pierre in Montreal sometime in late 2019. Askren wants to prove himself against a true welterweight and not just any fighter. He thinks a fight with Mcgregor doesn’t make sense for him, even though he is a big draw.
“And you know McGregor, he lands a couple of good punches against Eddie Alvarez,” Askren said. “Is he good? Sure, but I’d like to see him defend his belt, he’s never defended his belt ever. But sure, if McGregor wanted to fight me – I don’t know, is he the best in the world? I guess since he’s got the belt.”
“Sure, if he wanted to come up and fight me, that’d be fine. He knows that’s a terrible idea, I know that’s a terrible idea. He’s not gonna do it. Let’s just stick with the game plan and go with Georges [St-Pierre].”
Ben Askren retired from MMA sports last November after defeating Shinya Aoki via first-round TKO to retain the ONE Championship welterweight title.
