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Douglas Lima tries to make sense of Ben Askren’s two-fight skid.
Ben Askren dominated Douglas Lima back in 2012 when he was the Bellator welterweight champion, but lately the pair of fighters have been on different career trajectories.
Last weekend, Lima recaptured the Bellator championship with a lopsided win over Rory MacDonald, while Askren fell to 1-2 in the UFC with a third-round submission loss to Demian Maia. After winning his first 19 pro fights, Askren has suddenly lost two straight and is far away from a shot at UFC gold.
When asked about Askren’s recent stumble, Lima called it “crazy.”
“He just doesn’t look as good as in shape as he did before,” Lima told The Luke Thomas Show on Monday. “I don’t think I see any hunger in him when he steps in there. There’s definitely something missing. I think if he can pull it together, I’m sure he can still beat a lot of those guys. But right now, there’s just something missing. He’s gotta come back, sit down, and realize what it is.”
A former Olympian, Askren is considered one of the best wrestlers in MMA. But it’s tough to be a one-trick pony in the sport these days, and Askren realized that in his past two fights. Against Maia, “Funky” showed that he is still quite green in the striking department, and unfortunately for him, his wrestling wasn’t able to match Maia’s jiu-jitsu.
Before signing with the UFC last year, Askren beat essentially all of his opponents — whether in ONE Championship, where he was also the champ, or Bellator — with his wrestling. That includes Lima seven years ago.
Lima said he has worked on evolving his game and closing up his holes — particularly his wrestling defense — since that fight, while Askren seemingly has not. Lima proved that by defending all of MacDonald’s takedown attempts at Bellator 232.
“It just doesn’t seem like he’s very focused on the training — trying to improve, trying to get better at certain things,” Lima said. “People are evolving. Everybody is getting good nowadays. Everybody is good. There’s not gonna be an easy fight nowhere.”