Current Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley Says His Friends, And Teammate Ben Askren Would Wreck Khabib Nurmagomedov And Georges St-Pierre Easily
Former Bellator MMA and ONE Championship welterweight kingpin Ben Askren making headlines since the news of a historic trade between two competing promotions arose. A dominant grappler ‘Funky’ is near to fulfilling his dream of competing against the top 170-pound contenders in the UFC and had already called out many in the division, many of whom fired back at him.
Askren already got an endorsement from his dear friend and teammate Tyron Woodley, who sent out a warning to two prominent UFC fighters in the UFC. (H/T MMANytt)
“I’m happy for my homie Ben Askren, he’s one of the best fighters in the world,” Woodley said during an Instagram live session. “Not just UFC, not just Bellator, not just ONE FC, he’s had a remarkable career combatively. I would consider wrestling a combative sport as well. Four time finalist in the NCAA’s, [two] time champ, only lost to two individuals ever in collegiate wrestling, made an Olympic team. He really revolutionized scrambling or as he calls it ‘funk’.
“Phenomenal guy, my wrestling coach, obviously my teammate.”
Askren called for the creation of 165-pound division, and he believes that’s where a fight with undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov would go down.
And @TeamKhabib I’ll meet you at 165 to determine the best MMA grappler on planet earth! You just name the time and send location.
— Funky 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@Benaskren) October 26, 2018
165 will be a division. @ufc just need a star to start it, like Rousey for women’s 135. Well they got a star, take that shit to the bank.
— Funky 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@Benaskren) October 26, 2018
Woodley who trained with Askren under renowned coach Duke Roufus in Milwaukee is well aware of ‘Funky’s’ abilities and warned UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Georges St-Pierre that his teammate would wreck them with ease.
“Khabib is a ‘G’ but Khabib ain’t never fought nobody like Ben,” Woodley said. “He never fought anybody like Ben, he ain’t never fought nobody like Michael Chandler. Those guys would wreck him on life. Chandler’s intensity is more, his striking is better. Ben doesn’t have the same intensity but his style is not one of intensity.
“His style is one of scrambling, one of static strength, one of consistency, pressure, and ground and pound is ridiculous, jiu-jitsu is ridiculous, wrestling is ridiculous. His ability to get in close and put himself into positions where he’s going to be successful is bar none some of the best I’ve ever seen.”
“GSP would never stand a chance against Ben,” Woodley added. “Ben thrives against guys’ offensive onslaughts and GSP’s whole thing was always timing. If you ever see some video a long time ago, Ben Askren grappling against Jake Shields and I’m going to tell you this one thing — the highlights of the video were not on that video. Ben is just on a different level.”
The way Ben Askren spitting out trash talk and hyping up his name, do you think he’ll able to keep his name on top when he joins UFC?