Ben Askren pitches case for why the UFC should create a new weight class with 165-pound fighters in order to help one issue. That issue is the fighters trying to cut down to a certain weight in order to be able to fight. This has been a hot topic issue for years now in the land of MMA.
While speaking with the media recently, he talked about why bringing in this new weight class makes all the sense in the world.
“I think everyone wants it,” Askren stated (via Bloody Elbow). I think it provides, from a business opportunity. Not from me as a fighter if I’m looking at it from a business opportunity. You now have (and they’re talking about doing away with the flyweights) but you now have an extra belt. And the other thing is, it provides a lot of chances for superfight opportunities.”
The former ONE champion continued by stating that if they change the weight classes then it makes a lot easier to move around. In his case, he’s a welterweight but couldn’t make it to lightweight even if he wanted to do so. Thus, the reason he’s set to fight fellow welterweight Robbie Lawler at the UFC 233 pay-per-view event.
“And so, I think if you change to 55, 65, 75, 85, man that’s a lot easier to move around. And I just feel, for myself, I’m a 70 pounder. I can’t make 55, I can’t do it. I made 163 for the Olympics, I can’t go lower than that. 185? I’m tiny up there. So, I’m stuck. And that’s a 30 lb gap, so it’s not like that’s a small gap.”
UFC 233 takes place on January 26, 2019, at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET. The preliminary card will air on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.
Finally, Askren says he could make both 175 and 165 if the UFC made these changes. He also thinks that UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov could do superfights with other fighters at different weight classes.
“Now, if you have 65 and 75, I can make both of those. And I think you’d have a Kelvin Gastelum could probably make a 75 and 85. You’ve got a Khabib who could fight 55, 65. And so you’d have more of these superfights, more inter-divisional stuff. Which is good.”
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