Ben Askren suggests unusual solution to carry out 'Khabib x Ferguson' during quarantine

B. Askren in an interview. Photo: Reproduction/YouTube ESPN MMA

In the world of MMA, in addition to the coronavirus, one of the topics that is most discussed today is whether or not to hold the UFC 249, scheduled for April 18th. After the state of New York banned the event, as a preventive measure, Ultimate is now looking for alternatives to avoid postponing the show. With this in mind, the company's former athlete, Ben Askren, in an interview with 'Submission Radio', made an unusual suggestion so that the organization does not need to give up on the main fight, which represents the fight for the lightweight belt (up to 70,3kg). ) in between Khabib Nurmagomedov e Tony Ferguson.

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“Let's not get greedy, Dana, let's make this very simple. We just need Tony (Ferguson) and Khabib (Nurmagomedov). We don't need the other fights. So in America they are allowing gatherings of 10 people maximum. So, you have Tony, Khabib, three judges. But, you can also have remote judges. So, there is no need to have them there. As a referee, there's Dana (White), Bruce Buffer and maybe Joe Rogan. Maybe we take away the judges and do remote judges in a remote location and give the fighters two coaches or something. I think there is a way to do it to keep it under ten people and broadcast it,” Askren suggested.

After making the proposal, Ben spoke about why he didn't want the fight to be canceled or postponed. For the former welterweight (up to 77kg), the confrontation between the Russian and the North American is not a simple meeting between athletes, but a clash between the best fighters in the recent history of the sport.

“I think it's fascinating. That's why it's so exciting. They are two guys who are great at what they do and, if you were to design a fighter to defeat the other, you would design them themselves”, he concluded.

Even without a defined location for the confrontation, Dana White continues to state that the card will not be cancelled. Recently, the president of Ultimate considered moving the card outside the United States. However, there is no confirmation yet.