Ben Askren opens up on his relationship with the UFC President Dana White now that he’s under contract with the Las Vegas-based promotion. Before signing, Askren wasn’t allowed in the promotion despite his talent due to some issues with White.
Some people thought that Askren would never fight in the UFC but that changed. Once the UFC made a trade with ONE to send former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson to them, ONE would send Askren to the UFC.
Askren had his first fight booked under the UFC banner but now it’s been rescheduled to a later date. He’s slated to meet former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler. It was originally supposed to go down at UFC 233 but this event got nixed.
Askren’s Mindset
While doing an interview, Askren brought up his relationship with the UFC President has changed now that he’s under contract.
“I think when when one person and another person have a disagreement. The thing you need to do, if you want to have respect for each other, is sit down and have that conversation,” Askren said to MMAJunkie.com. “We haven’t been able to do that so far. He’s said nice things (in) the media. That’s also because I volunteered to do the dirty work. I volunteered to switch and be the main event against Robbie (at UFC 233), Robbie said no. I volunteered to fight ‘Marty from Nebraska’ (Kamaru Usman), ‘Marty’ said no. I volunteered to fight dumb Colby (Covington). So he sees the value in what I’m doing, so now he’s being nice.”
In the past, they have traded words on social media and White has even stated that he always thought Askren wanted big paydays facing lesser competition. Now, the former Bellator and ONE champion
“It’s whatever, though. What has happened in the past doesn’t just go away. Because of his position, he thinks that’s how it goes. Listen, I’m here to fight people in the cage. Not be anyone’s best friend. If we develop a friendship, that’s fine. I’m here to fight people in the cage.”
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