Tag: Ben Askren

Former ONE Champion Ben Askren continues to push for a big fight against former UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre.

It wasn’t that long ago that Askren called it a career after his fight against longtime mixed martial artist Shinya Aoki, who is best known for his lightweight run and has even competed at featherweight, back in November.

Around the time of his retirement, Askren went on record by stating that the only other fight that would bring him out of retirement would be against current UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, whom Askren trains with at Roufusport in Milwaukee.

However, that has all changed as he has his sights set on a fight with GSP. Askren has never fought under the UFC banner due to his hostile relationship with company president Dana White.

It should be noted that the odds of this fight actually happening are slim as the promotion would have to sign him and GSP would need to be medically cleared as well as want to take this fight for it all to come together.

St-Pierre is one of the most decorated fighters in UFC history. Also, he’s only the fourth fighter in UFC history to win belts in two weight classes.

St-Pierre returned to competition in November after four years away from the sport to win the middleweight title with a submission victory in the third round over Michael Bisping at UFC 217. Now, he is on the sidelines as he deals with colitis.

“I thought he might just say, ‘Ah, I don’t really know him,’ or whatever, but it was nice to hear him say the truth,” Askren said Monday on The MMA Hour. “Because what I’ve heard from behind closed doors is that he likes the skills that I bring.

“At the end of the day, in his heart, he’s really a martial artist, and most martial artists appreciate what I’ve done in MMA. While it may not have been the flashiest or the most creative, I brought a very unique skill set, and I executed in a fashion that very few have done before me, and I think very few will do after me.”

Askren believes that this fight will go down inside of the Octagon around “May or June” of 2019.

“There’s absolutely momentum here,” Askren said. ”All you need to know is that in 2019, I’m going to go to Montreal and I’m going to fight GSP at the Bell Centre. I will beat up GSP, and I will have somewhere around 20,000 Canadians booing me, and it will be a fantastic sight to see.”

“Here’s what I think happens,” Askren explained, “because the one thing I have over him is I have the wrestling advantage and I don’t get tired, and that’s usually what he’s relied on in the last, say, 10 to 12 fights or so. I think he’s very tough to take down early. I think he’s very tough. I think he’s probably going to win the striking battle, but one of the things, I never take a lot of damage. I just don’t get hit a lot. That’s what I’m good at.

“And over the course of the second and third round, I start to wear him down, my takedowns become more effective. By the third and fourth round, I’ve started dominating with my top game. He’s used to being on top — he can’t get me off of top. If he does get a momentary glimpse of hope, I’m back on him, no problem. And in the fifth round, he mentally breaks and he says, ‘I can’t do this anymore, I’ve never been in this position in my life,’ and he let’s me finish him. TKO. He just says, ‘I’m done with this sh*t.’”

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