Unbeaten Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren has his next test, and it will be against his most seasoned opponent yet.
Askren, who won the promotion’s Season 2 welterweight tournament to earn a date with champ Lyman Good, whom he beat to win the title in October, will face UFC veteran Nick Thompson at Bellator 40 in April. Bellator made the fight official on Wednesday – though it will be a non-title fight.
Askren (7-0), a 2008 Olympic wrestler and two-time NCAA Division I national champion at the University of Missouri, won his first four MMA bouts with first-round stoppages. But his wins over Ryan Thomas at Bellator 19, Hornbuckle and Good have all been decisions – using his superior wrestling to dominate on the ground.