B. Askren in an interview with ESPN. Photo: Reproduction/YouTube ESPN MMA
Hired as a 'weight of gold' by Ultimate, Ben Askren still hasn't been able to say what he came to the company for. With three fights and just one victory since his debut, the North American suffered yet another defeat last weekend, after being submitted by the veteran Demian Maia, UFC Singapore. Askren, however, showed sport and praised the São Paulo native, who won his 22nd achievement within the company. The statement was made in an interview with 'MMA Fighting'.
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“I trained a lot in the camp (training period). I have a really good jiu-jitsu guy (teacher), but I think I was too confident. He (Maia) is the best grappler in the category, no wonder. And he is, possibly, the best in MMA of all time. I was very confident when I got swept and I didn't reverse it. I failed and, obviously, that was the result”, said the fighter.
Askren arrived at the UFC with the burden of having already been champion in two large companies competing with his current contractor. The American has already ranked number one in Bellator and ONE FC. The athlete signed a contract in which he was involved in an exchange with the former flyweight champion (up to 56,7kg), Demetrious Johnson. Before his debut, Askren was undefeated in his career, but met defeat in the worst possible way.
In his second appearance for Ultimate, the athlete, who had adopted the tactic of provocation to promote his fight against Jorge masvidal, which occurred in July, at UFC 239, ended up having to swallow his words. The North American was brutally knocked out just five seconds into the fight, which represented the record for the fastest knockout in the company's history.
In the fight against Demian, Askren needed to show that the investment made in him was not in vain. Against a renowned athlete, famous for having fought for belts in two different divisions (middleweight and welterweight), Ben would have the opportunity to get back on the company's radar. However, the combatant got in the way again.
After three rounds of combat, the North American ended up succumbing to the excellent jiu-jitsu imposed by the Brazilian and was finished with just over a minute left in the round. After another negative result, Askren stated that he is not planning a new fight at the moment, as possible opponents already have commitments scheduled for the coming months.
“I was very busy during the year. It was fantastic, even after that fight. Obviously, I'm thinking, 'Who's next? Who will I challenge?'. I looked at the category and, holy shit, everyone has a fight scheduled'. There's no one that makes much sense. So I'll probably wait a bit to see what happens”, declared the fighter.
Despite the setback, the duel between Maia and Askren was voted 'Fight of the Night' by the Ultimate board. The fighter then, in addition to the fight grant, took home US$50 (around R$199,5).
At 35 years old, Ben has already made 22 appearances, with 19 wins, two losses and one unsuccessful fight. The athlete even announced his retirement from the sport in 2017, but gave up on the idea after having the chance to fight for the UFC.
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