ONE FC welterweight Ben Askren was less than impressed with UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey‘s fourth successful title defense against Sara McMann at UFC 170 last night.
While a number of fans, fighters and members of the media called the first-round stoppage premature, “Funky” took a stance that directly called out Rousey and UFC President Dana White:
Would Dana and Ronda be saying good stoppage if roles were reversed? I highly doubt it.
— Ben Askren (@Benaskren) February 23, 2014
At the post-fight press conference, White defended the hotly contested stoppage, indicating that anyone who feels referee Herb Dean jumped in too early doesn’t know what a good liver shot feels like, per Bloody Elbow.
For those who missed it, Rousey and McMann, two highly touted grapplers, engaged in a stand-up battle for their brief 66-second affair.
Both former Olympic medalists landed clean punches on the feet, but Rousey got the better of the clinch battle before dropping McMann to the canvas with a knee to the body.
Rousey connected with a couple of punches on her fallen foe before Dean waived off the fight, and despite the controversy, McMann did not argue the stoppage:
Sometime u just gotta suck it up, make improvements and get a rematch!! @danawhite @ufc
— Sara McMann (@Sara_McMann) February 23, 2014
Askren has been consistently engaging in Twitter battles with White ever since the UFC decided not to offer the former Olympian a contract after he was released from his Bellator contract late last year.
While many believed it was a foregone conclusion that the UFC would sign the undefeated (12-0) ex-Bellator titleholder, White said he’s been unimpressed with Askren‘s level of competition and therefore wasn’t interested in having him on his company’s roster, per MMA Fighting.
Instead, Askren signed a six-fight, two-year contract with overseas promotion ONE FC, where he is expected to compete for their welterweight title in May, per MMA Junkie.
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
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