- Ben Askren accused Dana White of not handing deserving contenders title shots because he doesn’t like them
- “Funky” cited Merab Dvalishvili and Belal Muhammad as perfect examples
Ben Askren blatantly criticized UFC president Dana White for favoring fighters he likes in getting title shots.
Funky hit out at his former boss
Speaking on Funky and Champ on Daniel Cormier’s YouTube channel, Askren said White has been brutally unfair to the rightful title contenders. For “Funky,” the reason why Merab Dvalishvili and Belal Muhammad, who both have been winning for a long period of time, are yet to get a title shot, is because White doesn’t like them compared to other fighters.
“I know you can’t say anything bad about Dana. It’s okay, I can,” Askren told Cormier. “I freaking hate it when Dana does this sh*t and doesn’t give people he doesn’t like title shots. Because Merab, how many did he win, like nine in a row or something!?… Belal’s another one, Belal’s won how many in a row?… I mean, here’s the guy, I’m not even mad because I like this guy. But Michael Chandler, he came in from Bellator, it might have been off a loss… he won one fight and fought for a belt! Because Dana liked him, right? And then you have a guy like Belal who wins like what, eight or nine in a row? You have Merab, [who won] eight or nine in a row.”
Funky feels for deserving fighters
Askren added that Chael Sonnen once made a good point in which “The Bad Guy” implied that it’s hard to tell if the fighters winning the title are really the best in the division because there are so many title fights happening. But in Dvalishvili’s case, he has proven that he has been consistently great.
“It’s so frustrating to watch these guys just struggle and they’re so good… Sometimes we don’t know who the best in the world is. Every year we have World Championships and we know who the best is and no one will argue about it. But how long has Merab actually been the best in the world? It might have been a couple of years! I don’t know,” Askren noted.
As it stands, Dvalishvili has already won 10 fights in a row. His latest was the unanimous decision victory over Henry Cejudo at UFC 298. On the other hand, Muhammad has won nine consecutive fights, barring the No Contest with Leon Edwards in 2021.
Cormier said that as per White, Dvalishvili is next in line, while “Remember The Name” remains positive about becoming Edwards’ next title challenger. However, nothing has been made official yet at this point.
Watch Askren’s full video below:
