Ben Askren believes taking down Nick Diaz would be as easy as taking down a “wet paper bag.”
The former Bellator welterweight champ has yet to fade into obscurity despite being shipped off to the Singapore-based ONE Fighting Championship in a lucrative two-year, six-fight deal.
MMA fans continue to scratch their heads at the notion that a fighter with back-to-back NCAA Division I wrestling titles and an undefeated professional record has yet to earn a spot on the UFC roster. Despite fighting in ONE, Askren often entertains questions regarding possible dream fights against current UFC fighters.
When appearing on a recent episode of the MMA Roasted podcast, he was asked about a potential fight with Diaz:
Diaz, man he ain’t even fighting no more, why would I talk about me against someone who’s retired? Well, if Nick Diaz can stay off the pipe, maybe I’ll fight him. He’s like taking down a wet paper bag. I don’t think I’d have much trouble. He’d probably be flipping me off and s–t, but I’ll just smile at him.
Diaz recently retired from MMA a little over a year ago after losing back-to-back decisions to Georges St-Pierre and Carlos Condit. There has been talk about him possibly returning to the Octagon.
MMA journalist Ariel Helwani recently reported on an episode of UFC Tonight (h/t MMAWeekly) that Diaz was interested in taking a fight against former middleweight champ Anderson Silva if the money was right.
As for a fight with Askren, the chances of that bout happening are slim to none at this point. If he ever decides to return to fighting, Diaz still remains locked into his UFC contract, and for whatever reason, UFC President Dana White doesn’t appear the least bit interested in negotiating a deal with Askren.
According to Askren in an interview with MMAjunkie’s Steven Marrocco, he may never get an opportunity to prove he’s the best in the world simply because “one bald-headed fat man” chooses not to let him in.
Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.
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