Almost a week after Ben Askren’s submission win over Robbie Lawler in the main event of March 2’s UFC 235 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the controversy over the finish is raging on.
Lawler slammed Askren on his head off of a takedown attempt early, following with vicious punches that made it seem like the fight was over. Referee Herb Dean did not stop the fight, however, and Askren recovered. He locked Lawler in a tight bulldog choke along the fence, and when Dean went to check on him, his arm was limp. Dean called the fight, only for a seemingly conscious Lawler to begin arguing the stoppage.
Askren’s Opinion
Lawler has since called for an instant rematch. UFC President Dana White called it a bad stoppage and agreed that a rematch should be next. ‘Funky’ is far from on board and said on his Rudis podcast (via MMA News) that he doesn’t even believe there was any controversy to the stoppage, even if it makes him money:
“Controversy creates cash obviously, to me there was no controversy. I got beat up for a little bit, got put in a really bad position, I came out of it and I was able to finish him.”
To him, Lawler just had no place to go in order to escape the hold:
“So No. 1, I do think he passed out for a little bit. No. 2, there was just no escape,” Askren stated. “There was 1:40 left, he was not getting out of that hold in no way, shape or form.
“It was sunk deep, it was sunk tight and there was just literally nowhere for him to go.”
Lawler’s Manager Responds
Lawler’s manager David Martin recently answered those claims in a statement. In his eyes, while Askren showed tremendous heart and determination to get out of a bad spot, “Ruthless” was not afforded the same chance.
That’s why they believe a rematch is in order, and they won’t rule out appealing the loss:
“We acknowledge that Ben is a tremendous fighter; coming back from the beating Robbie gave him demonstrates his grit and shows why he has a strong history of winning,” Martin said in the statement. “That is undeniable. However, Ben’s comments speak directly to the fact that there was a lot of time left in the round leading to a lot of unknowns. Things could have dramatically changed in the 1:40 remaining in the round, just as they did a minute into the fight.
“It is unfortunate that Robbie didn’t get his chance to get out of a tough position like Ben was able to do earlier in the round. No one knows, which is why an immediate rematch is warranted. As for an appeal to the commission, nothing has been ruled out. But if this were to occur it would be handled professionally behind closed doors like we do all of our business. Through adversity, Robbie remains a true professional and role model for the sport — someone I certainly want my three boys to look up to.”
‘Ruthless’ was all class in discussing the outcome with Dean after some initial disappointment.
We’ll see if that helps his cause to get a rematch with Askren, because as of today it doesn’t look all too likely.
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